Ryan and Elizabeth and the Philosophers' Heads

Our first full day in Rome featured the classics -- the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, one of the museums featuring Michelangelo's work.

We posed with emperors.

Elizabeth Caesar Aurelius the Great. 

We impersonated philosophers. (Elizabeth's idea).

The occasional thinker.  

And when in Rome, we did as the Romans have done for centuries. Elizabeth, my sister Kate, my parents and I walked in the footsteps of millions of who marveled at the construction of buildings that have stood for millennia despite the weather, earthquakes, fires, gravity and the pillaging of marble and iron by citizens.  

At Camden Yards' ancestor. 

I sipped my first espresso (at 4 p.m.), which could explain why I'm still up at 1 a.m. Rome time working on a post. Seriously, what do they put in that stuff?

Little cup, big kick. 

And Elizabeth had the most freshly squeezed orange juice ever. The barista tossed three oranges into what Elizabeth aptly described as a pitching machine. And out came pure OJ.

The juice -- with its maker in the background.

And all this was just Day 1. The one disappointment of the day was that we failed to get a picture of the soccer playing dog. Yes, Italy takes its football that seriously.

As we were walking to the subway from dinner, we saw a young student kicking a soccer ball. And from behind a statue what looked like a Corgi mix was running off with it, pushing it with its chest. His master -- still in a suit from work -- was laughing and playing along with the dog and the child. Alas, by the time we got the camera out, the show was over. We'll do better next time.