Rome, Italy - More photos on the 2010 Student Protest

I found this protest process very interesting. As we moved further from the apartment and closer to the Colisseum, the crowd (and  barracades) changed.  I also find it interesting that our curiosity took us closer and closer to the hub.

The day started when Kalen came to the dining table and said that he looked out the window and police were stopping cars from entering the city.  The cars and bus on the right side of the photo are leaving the city.  The left side lane is the incoming, or lack of incoming, traffic.  This lane has been full every morning.  Not today. Something is happening!

We started our walk to the Coliseum.  The original intention (mine) was to take a bus, but since they were not running at this time, foot power will have to do.

 You can see that the streets were missing the heavy Roman auto hustle and bustle.

 As we moved closer and closer, we saw a few streets blocked off with police vehicles.

 My sister had told me how crazy the traffic was in this area. I just didn't see it!!  (hahaha)

 This round about in front of the memorial is normally crazy with traffic.  You would take your life in to your own hands trying to cross the street.  But today, we could walk IN the street.

 The crowd seemed to be going in the same direction.

 We could see that the wider street was a little bit busier.

 I looked around for Sara, and saw our roving reporter (with the short hair and the red scarf) was busy finding out what was in the works.  She simply asked.  (very bright woman!)  She reported that there was an organized march protesting the increase in the university fees.  Well, this should be interesting.

 The protest walk began and we could see that each group organized behind a banner.  There was chanting but all in all it seemed like a well run protest.

 It was hard to continue to be a roving reporter when the global reporting team continued to jump in to the photo!  This was the perfect spot to take a photo in front of that famous building.

 Yes, there were crowds. And they were moving AWAY from our destination.  The bad news was that the buses were not running and we had to walk.  The good news is that the TOUR buses weren't running, so the long lines that were expected were minimal.  The tour groups were delayed and we easily moved to the entrance, bought our tickets and toured freely.  Very cool and we were able to take a lot of photos without tourists in them.  And that is another post.

Does it look as you would expect?  I can't believe that people drive to work each day and are able to see this sight.  I hope that they continue to have organized protests and continue to protect historical sights.