More on the yard...

Well, things are going better in the yard. What Aaron had deemed an "unmittigated disaster" is now coming along quite well. All of our grass finally sprouted and in no time at all it'll be choking out those weeds. Then we can put down some weed and feed, which has done wonders for our front lawn. Hopefully by this time next week I'll have some flowers in some defined garden beds.

These are my peas, the seemingly only veggies I started that are surviving:

And the rest of the backyard, there really is more grass, it's just superfine baby grass:

ROME: Day 2

Day 2:

We started off looking for St. Peter in Chains Church, which has the "supposed" chains that once held Peter, but also houses Michaelangelo's Moses. It was a simple church, but still beautiful, and of course the statues were amazing.

While looking for the church we came out into a square turned around a saw this:

WOW! Nothing like just bumping into the Colosseum! It was so unexpected and so beautiful (not to mention HUGE!). We went back to the church first and then did our tour of the Colosseum. It was amazing. They built it in just 8-10 years, quite a feat when you have no heavy machinery.

Tip: the only people who can be trusted to take your picture are those who are obviously tourists (like ones who are speaking english, german, or japanese) and who first ask you to take THEIR picture. :)

A view of the Arch of Constantine from the top level of the Colosseum:

Next we made our way over to Palatine Hill and the Forum. Palatine Hill is where all the wealthy people (including the Emperor) lived. It's where we get the name "palace" from. Now it is all ruins, however the house of Romulus (founder of Rome) is still standing:

This is the view of the Arch of Constantine, and Palatine Hill (behind the arch) from the Colosseum:

Again from the Colosseum, Palatine Hill (left), the Arch of Titus (center, in honor of Titus' victory over the Jewish rebellion in Judea, when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD), and the Forum (right):

And, again from the Colosseum, The Forum (left), and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica:

Here, we are standing on Paltine Hill looking down on the Forum, the Colosseum is in the background on the right:

The Senate House:

View of the Forum (Palatine Hill is up on the right):

Below is the sacred site of Largo Argentina (or Torre Argentina). It was unearthed in 1929 but we were unable to find out what is was exactly. Now, as we later discovered, it is a cat sanctuary. We counted nearly 50 cats before we figured that out. I read somewhere that Rome has an estimated 250,000-350,000 stray cats!

After these sites, we headed back to the hotel for a while (we were hot and tired out). Then, when it was cooler out we went to the Pantheon and out for dinner. This is the entrance to the Pantheon from the inside (the exit?).

This is the main altar inside. It is still considered a Christian church (far from it's pagan beginning), so you have to be quiet,as some people are there for religious purposes. Also, according to the sign inside you are forbidden to: wear inappropriate clothing (skimpy, or grungy/dirty), play music, take flash photos, smoke, sleep on the floor, sell anything, bring pets, use cell phones, or eat inside. :) Unfortunately for us no one posted a sign saying you couldn't use the exterior as a urinal, and Aaron observed a local taking this liberty (on the Pantheon!)

The dome has an opening in the center, so when it rains water gets inside. Because of this there are drains carved into the marble floors.

My darling husband, enjoying some fantastic lasagna:

I forgot to write down the name of this place but it was really good. I had salmon with this amazing sauce on it. I tried to duplicate it already, but I didn't quite get it. I'll try again.

This is the view from the street that the restaurant was on. Can you say, "Ah, Italy!"

Last but not least, GELATO! Mmmm... we went to this place twice. It was so good, I swear I cold eat my weight in gelato (Chocolate, Coffee, and Hazelnut in particular.) :)

Sorry I didn't have this up yesterday, but as I was posting my last blog I decided to fill the bath while my pictures were loading so I could take a bath after I was done. I came back to the computer, got distracted and 30 minutes later, remembered the bath! Needless to say it had overflowed and flooded my bathroom, half my closet and the surrounding carpet in my bedroom. Yeah, I'm BRILLIANT! So, I've spent quite some time cleaning that up. Won't do that again. :)