La Dolce Vita and the Caesar Shuffle

This morning we slept in, ate a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and then walked over to the Colosseum for a pre-booked tour including the newly restored Underground area. Yeah, where they kept the gladiators and lions and props before the actual spectacle. A few interesting facts:
-Colosseum held 50,000 spectators and could empty all of them in less than 15 minutes. (are you listening Mesa Del Sol amphitheater?) A feat like that meant the area outside the arena was called the vomitorium, meaning the stadium could disgorge quickly. Yeah, that's where we get the modern word vomit from.
-The cheap wood seats at the top (women and plebiscites) had the best view of the action and the most shade from the tent cover, but the greatest prestige was down at the marble seats in the front. With your name inscribed on the marble.
-The Roman Forum is, well, underwhelming after seeing the Acropolis and Ephesus. Sorry, but the best Roman ruins are in Greece and Turkey. And the best Greek ruins are in the British Museum. (And the best Turkey ruins are going to be on your dinner tables tomorrow afternoon. It's hard for us to believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving! )

In the afternoon we started at Piazza Navonna and meandered our way back across central Rome visiting the Four Rivers Fountain, Pantheon, Giolitti's, Trevi Fountain, and then returned for a late afternoon nap before dinner.