The Kings of Old

Yesterday, the main destination was the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum. We met our tour guide Tom at the entrance to the archaeological park that houses the palaces of Augustus and Domitian along with the ancient forum. We even were able to see the site of Romulus's hut which the Romans apparently kept in good condition next to the home of the Emperor. Perhaps the biggest points of the tour discussed how the palaces of the Emperors changed with each dynasty or individual ruler trying to leave his mark in marble. The hill is also where Mussolini decided to camp out, maybe as an attempt to liken himself to the ancient dictators? Since then his mansion has been turned into a museum of the ancient ages that houses busts discovered at the site and beautiful models of the different buildings that were built on the hill during the different ages of Ancient Rome. This wonderful tour ended with a walk through the Renaissance gardens before we headed to the Colosseum. Unfortunately the Colosseum section of the talk was quite short and not too informative, but that might be due to my fairly decent background in Roman goings on. Anna gave a better tour for free last year.While some major points were hit, some of the nuances that really bring magic to the ancient structure were lost. With such an awe-inspiring monument, one might hope a tour comes with that same sort of marvel.

The group dispersed after that and somehow Grace and I ended up separated from the rest so we wandered around and eventually ended up at the Ducati cafe! Wonderful atmosphere and fantastic service but alas, Italian burgers just don't stand up to American beef. The place was decorated with old bikes and racing gear with black wall paint and a decent alternative soundtrack. Overall, probably a 3/5.

Roman Catholicism's impact on Italy was the lecture of the day and quite honestly...I fell asleep. I was up for questions! But after a day on my feet, my brain decided to throw in the towel. I certainly enjoyed the back-and-forth discussing the differences in culture between Italy and the United States and the inevitable intertwining of church and state. Obviously it's a lot different when the Pope is next door but it seems like Italy has really tried to separate itself from the Papal state where it makes sense to and is modernizing appropriately.

Today we went to Enea research labs to learn about fusion and furthering the human races' separation from natural gas and oil. The lab itself was amazing, especially when we received a personal lecture on the electromagnetics of a tokomak fusion reactor. The tour ended with a glimpse at the reactor and the war games-esque super computer that powers simulations and tests of the reactor.

Finally, we stopped by the aqueduct park with our tour guide from yesterday and learned about the Roman practices of water filtration and the rebuilding that went on during the Renaissance. Since some aqueducts still were reasonably operational from Roman times many Renaissance engineers realized it'd be easier to just refurbish and reuse. We also talked about the particulars of the aqueducts and their maintenance. The walk through the park was quite calming an nice, with just the right amount of information and discussion for a hot afternoon.

Tonight we plan to head to a restaurant near a mountain of olive oil pottery, an ancient landfill!