SUNDAY 
ROMA

On the bus back to the world of the living.
I'll never understand graffiti vandals. I think they should be shot, but that's just me.
I mentioned the marathon earlier. Here are some of the participants on the Metro. They aren't cheating by taking the train. The race is over.
I had some time built into the day for some laundry. This place was just a few blocks from the B&B.
I would make some reference to the Pretenders song "Watching the Clothes" but I'd bet none of you knows it.
Since I had time between laundry and the start of the Roma-Parma match I decided to wander in the early evening and see Rome in the twilight. Il Messagger is a newspaper.
Trevi Fountain in the early evening.
The Colosseum at night.
The Arch of Constantine. Emperor Constantine was the fellow who made the Roman Empire a Christian empire.
Workers were cleaning things up after the marathon.
The Forum was not particularly lit at night, but here's a little something.
From what I've read, the locals are of two minds about the Victor Emmanuel Monument. On the one hand, it was built to commemorate the unification of various states into a single Italian nation. On the other, it is a bit overly large and audacious and its construction destroyed some of the historic Capitoline Hill area.
The Stadio Olimpico. As you can see it started raining about a half hour before kickoff.
I bought a ticket (after finally stumbling upon the building where they are sold), but I couldn't find where my seat was. But as you can see there are plenty of seats so I just picked one. It's not that Roma matches are not well attended, but that the stadium is so large.
Any good soccer club has their devotees, usually located behind the goal.
There was a Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland played at the stadium the day before. There was an Irish flag flying in the stands. I wonder if they were Irish fans who stuck around for the weekend.
There is an American player on the AS Roma side. Here he is, Michael Bradley, about to be subbed on in the second half.
And there's the result, a 2-0 win for Roma. Note the time. The match didn't end until after 10:30.
If it weren't so late and raining I would have spent some more time at the stadium. There are lots of tile mosaics and statues around the Foro Italico sport complex which also includes an aquatics center and tennis facility. Most of the mosaics look like they are depicting athletes in action. This one seems to show a couple of spectators.

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