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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Roma, Italia Day XI November 16, 2011


I had another appointment at the hospital for wound cleaning. Everything looks good but I was asked to come back on Friday. Molly met with the Foreign Office and we will have a bill on Friday which we should be able to pay online or through a wire transfer. This is exciting because we thought we would have to do many transactions at the ATM (Bancomat) to get the cash! They say the bill will be around €3,000! Could this possibly be correct? In the US it would be 20 times that! Medical tourism is really making sense!

Today is Colosseum and Forum day and I feel good! There was no line which I am sure is long during tourist season. We are armed with our Rick Steve's tour downloaded on our iPod and iPhones and off we go. The Colosseum was started in 72 AD and finished in 80 AD! It was the entertainment arena for up to 50,000 people! Between earthquakes and stone looting the Colosseum is a ruin. Interestingly there are holes in the stones of the building where people chipped away to make mortar for their projects!



The Forum is a plaza where the government of The Roman Empire was. The Senate building is still there along with the ruins of temples and home of the Vestal Virgins. This is the place where Julius Caesar was killed.






We went to the Chiesa del Gesu` which is the Church of the Jesuits and holds the altar tomb of St Ignatius of Loyola.  Everyday at 5:30 pm the macchina barroca is turned on and it deserves the attention: after music, a reading and some lights hitting the painting, it slides down to show the golden statue of St Ignazio, which can be only seen at this time.








 

 This church is so ornate with gold leaf, paintings and statuary. It is hard to capture it on film.






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