Sun's Out, Guns Out.

I am continuously falling in love with Italy. Forum Friday was pretty nifty --

I saw some pretty flowers on the Palatine Hill.

This is a reconstruction done of what archaic Rome is said to look like according to remains and writings from various writers. The huts are very Etruscan-like, which shows that the Romans/people that lived there were heavily influenced by them.

These are three remaining columns of a temple dedicated to Castor and Pollux. These gods are originally Greek, so it's strange they hold a temple in one of the most important places during anitquity. It's said that in order for them to become "Romanized," the gods appeared in the forum one day announcing that Rome had won the battle they were currently at. The victory was confirmed, and the gods were deemed Roman.

The Temple of Saturn. 

The famous Capitoline Wolf -- this she-wolf rescued and cared for Romulus and Remus after they were thrown into the Tiber River by their great uncle, Amulius, who had usurped the thrown from the twins grandfather, Numitor.

Sun's out, guns out Saturday on the beach in Ostia. It was such a great decision --

We went to a private beach for 8 euros. It wasn't that bad because they set out chairs for us, it was pretty nice, there wasn't a lot of people, and we only got asked to buy things a few times rather than a million times..

Obsessed with the rocks. Can't wait to use these for something cool.

Sunday fun-day... at the Vatican. Every month they have a free day to get in the museum and guess what.?! Today was free. But of course that means it was superrrr crowded.

Apoxyomenos the "Scraper" -- he is a Greek athlete who is scraping sweat and dust from his arm with a tool called a strigil. 

Laocoon is a Greek and Roman mythological figure represented in many epics. Here he is wrestling with two serpents that were sent to kill him and his sons for warning the Trojans against accepting the Trojan horse from the Greeks.

Julius Caesar!

School of Athens by Raphael. 

I may or may not have snuck this picture.. but it's Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam!" Soo excited to snap this one.

My first complete weekend in Rome was so much fun. I love it here and I'm having a blast. So thank you again to all those who made it possible for me to come here. It truly has been a dream come true thus far! :)

Oh and I must give credit to Brandon for the phrase, "sun's out, guns out." It makes me laugh and I like to steal all of his cute little sayings, of course.