The Beasleys "Veni, Vidi, Vici" Rome!

After our fun in Tuscany, it was off for a week of Rome!  How to put this?  Rome is a city that can drive you totally, screaming insane one second:

Above: Doctors protesting.  Ok...

 

Is that the ol' communist's hammer and sickle on that flag?  Yes, this is a communist rally, on the same day as the doctor's!

and astound beyond measure the next,

A little scoop of heaven...

Vatican Museum, you rock my world!

 and that was our experience.  Rome, more than any other city we've been to, is such a paradox to describe.  On one hand it has so much to offer, a history that is unique of any city in the Western world, endless amazing sights and art, and a really fun, ancient vibe that it carries really well.  It also has frustration, crowds, confusion, a (seemingly) random transportation system, and art like this:

Above:  Brannan after too much Rome...

Michelangelo thought this torso was the coolest thing ever.  Me?  Not so much.

Ditto for the Vatican's Swiss Guard costumes.

Having learned our lesson in Paris, we figured on a week in Rome, and that was about right.  We saw so much that was amazing, check it all out:

On a night walk tour, some fantastic atmosphere

We'll be back, Rome!  It's assured now! @Trevi Fountain

Il Colosseo!  50,000 people could fit in it!

Michelangelo's Moses ready to lay down the law!

I think the Forum, right next to the Colosseum was my favorite part.  It is so crazy to walk there and imagine it back in it's prime, as the heart of an empire of 50 million people that contained basically everything in the world that mattered and that has never been matched since.  And they are still digging it out!

Archeology or slowly moving dirt around?  Both!

Below is Brannan crossing the Via Sacra, the main street of the Forum.  It was here that Roman generals marched after a victory, that the Ceasar's and senators walked, the very heart of civilization itself.

  ...and I'm wearing period-appropriate footwear!

The Roman Empire at it's peak...

The remains of that Empire

We saw the Pantheon, basically in the same condition as when it was built,

Celebrating it's 1,886th October!  Doesn't look a day over 1,000!

The Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basillica, home of the Catholic church as long as it has existed:

The Laocoon - Most influential piece of art of the Renaissance?  Nope, that's probably the Torso...

????  Seriously.

 Then there's St. Peter's, which is impossibly big.  The brain can't even compute how big this place is because everything in it is so massive that it all feels normal size, somehow.  It feels like just a big church, until you look at other people.

Can you spot the security guard in this picture?  Hint - look under the left statue

The Beasleys!

Overall we had a great time in Rome, but it is a place impossible to describe.  It just must be experienced to be believed.