Rome

                One of the largest disappointments for me happened while we were in Rome. I was very disappointed in the preservation of the monuments. I thought they would be cleaner and better taken care of. I would have never thought they would have let cars so close. I believe the building would and could be better preserved. There are monuments that are all around the world that are cleaner and better taken care of. The pyramids are much older and I believe they are in better condition. I was also shocked that the Coliseum was used for the firefighters to practice on. 

                Rome was also a very dirty city. I came to Italy thinking they would have the same standard of cleanliness as we do in the United States. The bathrooms often did not have soap and seemed to be rarely clean. The streets were also very dirty. I would have thought that there would be more pride for the capital. There was also so much graffiti in the city, this takes away from the building and the scenery.  Some of the other things I noticed about Rome was that the main industry is tourism. I could tell this because there were several tourist information booths and most places were there to serve the customers. Most people in Rome spoke English, or at least enough to get them around. The menus in just about every restaurant were also in English or had English.