Tour led by a professor from Cornell!

This morning I awoke at 7:45 am to go to the Rome Center and go on a guided tour of Rome. My program was fortunate enough to have a guest teacher from Cornell University lead the tour and tell us all about Rome. Luckily, it stopped raining right as we started our tour :)

 Walking all over the city takes a toll on the heels of your feet! This was the damage after wearing moleskin. (Notice it's on both ankles!)

This was a statue at the center of the Piazza del Campidoglio. She is meant to symbolize the strength of Rome. The purple stone that makes her dress is a special stone from Egypt that was erected before the 5th century! 

This was the inside of the Santa Maria in Aracoeli church. Notice that it is lined with chandeliers which used to be a common way to light churches. Not many churches are like that anymore. 

This picture shows how diverse buildings are in Rome. 

This was right next to the Roman forum and Piazza del Campidoglio. After they completed the Roman Forums there were 5 Imperial Forums built near by. This is one of the 5!

Roman horses!

Roman Forum!

Roman Forum, slightly to the right is the Colosseum. Unfortunately I did not get to visit that yet. Not to worry, I still have many adventures to go on!

This was a statue in the Piazza del Campidoglio. I thought this statue was entertaining because it kind of looks like he is staring at a cell phone! Maybe he's taking a selfie!

This is the Teatro di Marcello! This is an interesting structure because there are apartments built over the landmark! Can you imagine coming home to this??

This is a fountain that we saw while walking around. The tour guide said that originally the fountain did not have turtles, but I think they are a great touch!

Finally, this is a bigger picture of the Piazza del Campidoglio. A woman on the tour told me that many many italians get married in that square. We saw two brides today!

I have had a wonderful first few days in Rome! I have had 2 gelatos and wonderful food. I also got a cell phone here! Tomorrow class starts and I am really excited to learn more about european law and society! Ciao!