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St Peters and several other basilica. We saw fountains, churches,
palaces, statues etc until the impressions were jumbled on top
of each other. Fortunately we will have much time to walk around
and see things again. In the mornings we have guided walking tours
in groups of 20. The group I am in goes tomorrow about Ancient Rome.
Tuesday about the Vatican Museum and St. Peters and Wedn. about
Renaissance-Modern Rome. So far I find ancient Rome the most inter-
esting because it is so completely different from anything I have
ever seen. The main element is sheer size. Building was on a
differnt scale- the public baths for example of Diocletian are
absolutely huge. The Rooms are equal to the inside of a large church
in fact, Michangelo's church is a remodeling of one. and there are
acres of such rooms. The ceilings are high, the columns of clim
marble, the rooms gigantix, th sculptures five times life-size at
times! There is still much of the Roman wall though a lot of it was
rebuilt in Renaissance and later times. The old castles, mauseleums,
tenples, columns etc are still alive andpresent. It is simply overwhelm
as I first said.

Our hotel here- the Casa Palotti- is run by a Caholic order and serves
partly as a monestary for monks of the order and other wise as a
moderately priced home for travelers, especially those from Germany.
The facilities are very nice, the food excellent, and we are located
half a block from the Tiber River, in the middle of downtown Rome.
And this is one big difference from the Burg- on the Burq silence
reigns. Here, even at 7 AM on hears cars moving and honking, Hi-fi's
playing etc- all the noises of a city.

Feb. 1st

Golly- but today was fabulous from beginning to end. It is 11:15 PM and
I am trying to collect my impressions. Took many pictur[?]
help to reproduce what we saw. [?]
We had [?] morning of ancient Rome. We spent the whole
[?] walking among the remains of ancient life especially the
Republican Forum which for some 500 uears was the center of market,
religious and civic life. This Forum has been excavated quite com-
pletely and though the remains of columns etc are very partial and
incomplete, you can get a very clear idea of the size and position
of the old basilicas (huge halls for markets and civic functions under
local govenment), and even a feeling for the old life that existed
in the old Forum. The second feeling was one I have already mentioned-
sheer awe at the scale of things. You stand at the base of a huge
triumphal arch and look at its massive beauty then you walk thru
the Forum- sort of like a huge cemetery- and look back at the arch at
a distance and it is just one ordinary looking building in this huge
area. From the Forum floor, we climbed the steps up the Palentine hill
one side of which looks down over the Forum, the other on the old
chariot racing corner. On the hill many of the emperors built their
mansions- ften several stories in the steep, almost vertical, side
of the hill. One of the largest, on the crest of the hill, even had
an indoor hipodrome(sports arena) abou the size of a football stadium.
The largest of all the emperors' residences was Nero's "Golden House"
a sprawling thing almost beyond comprehension. The Coleseum was origina-
lly built as a fish pond in his gardens! And his house probably covered
several hundred acres, spreading out in several directions from the
old Forum. The Romans said that if Nero didn't stop building pretty
soon, Rome was going to have to move out of town, and it almost seems
true.
From the Palantine hill we went down to the arch of Constatine( about