Mum, Dad, Nanna and Grandad went off this morning to see the Pope (along with 20,000 others, no joke), and I went to wander around the Jewish Ghetto - yes, it is officially called the Ghetto. I came across this elegant fountain, the Fontana delle Tartarughe, which has some young folk pushing tortoises into the bath. Of all the fountains I have seen in Rome - and we saw the Trevi Fountain today which was so impressive - this must be my favourite.
This afternoon, after hearing all about the pope, we wandered around Capitoline, one of the hills on which Rome is built, the geographic centre of Rome, and the inspiration for the word 'capitol'. Next to Capitoline is the old Roman forum - quite unbelievable to think that Caesar walked around here. I could just picture Brutus lunging with dagger towards Caesar in his final moments!
I think that naked youths pushing turtles into a fountain must somehow be a metaphor for sex... somehow. Did you know that between 1853 and 1854 they put leaves over the boy's 'organs'?
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