The most humbling aspect of the trip was the realization of how brilliant the Romans were…yet their civilization crashed into obscurity. Looking at the Colosseum, the aquaducts, the fountains and the statues reminds us that these folks really had their act together at one time.
So why aren’t we speaking Latin today?
Back to Italy Trip 2013

the Colosseum could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators

bring three coins to the Trevi fountain

it made me shiver to think that in 79 AD someone stood on this very spot,
wondering why Mount Vesuvius was so noisy
and trying to decide whether to get out of town

the house of Volusi Fausti in Pompeii

the Temple of Flora

don’t forget, the Greeks occupied Sicily before the Romans!

Villa d’Este, near Tivoli, was built in 1570 and has spectacular fountains

the boat fountain

“One Hundred Fountains Avenue”

hotels and homes on the cliffs above Positano, Sicily

women in bikinis playing ball (mosaic in Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily)

dormant crater on the side of Mount Aetna