Augustus Day, YAY

Hello all. Between the walking, the heat, the cold water showers and the wine, I may be a bit delirious but I will try my best. First, I forgot to mention yesterday that I was in a bus accident; that is, the bus I was riding on got into an accident. It's no wonder that 1/2 of all cars in Rome only have one side-view mirror. So the authorities had to be called which means I ended up having to walk up the Janiculum Hill (see the day I was lost) which I will hereby refer to as The Mountain I Live On. Anyway, that was exciting. Then last night I went out to dinner with the older gentleman teacher who also loves food, Don. We ended up meeting a bunch of Latin teachers who are doing a different tour, and having a fabulous Roman dinner. I had oriechette con fiori di zucchini e mailino con patate arrosto. It was quite good and worth the extra walking! Today was Augustus Day. We left the Centro at 8:15, and walked to the Palatine to visit the houses of Augustus and Livia. All I can say is wow, even though I'd probably been there before, since I was Livia in a previous life. But that's neither here nor there... The frescoes were amazing and I was breathless looking at them. Next to the Palatine Museum to see the sculptures found on the Palatine, and a tour of the Forum of Julius Caesar and Forum of Augustus. I have not been inside these Fora, and made sure to get my picture taken on the Temple of Mars Ultor, which Augustus dedicated to J.C. Again, breath-taking. We walked some more to the Theater of Marcellus and through the Portica Octaviae, and all in all we walked from 8:15 until about 4:30. Can anyone say chafing? I hate to be crude, but goodness!!!! However, we did return in time to shower and change for our night at the Academy. We had a lecture, open to all people visiting the Academy, on the history of the Academy. It was a slide show and it was fun to see the pictures of the Summer School participants from 1923!!! Then we picked figs and apricots in the Academy garden until dinner. And...are you ready...I had dinner with Tony Bennett!!! Well, I didn't actually sit at the table with him, but he was at one of the tables, as I was (there were about 8 tables). We ate parmesan risotto, pork filets and potatos, and chocolate/vanilla marble cake, and afterwards, I decided to be a 'typical American' and ask for his autograph, which he very graciously gave me, but rest assured I waited until others (including our leader Myles and his wife) did the same. So, that was my adventure for today. It wasn't Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but, still! Ciao for now!