Buon giorno and Happy Pi day (3.1415)
Today we explored most of the outside sites of Rome since it is supposed to rain the rest of the time we are here. We took the metro toward the Colosseum. This is where you have to be diligent in Italy! When we boarded the train, a group of girls started asking me questions in italian while the mom with a baby circled around. I moved away from them but the mom with the baby got close to Alan and tried to pickpocket him. Thankfully all of our valuables are places where no one can reach. An older lady on the train was warning Alan as it was happening but we were already aware of the situation. She thought we would be easy targets, but she was wrong and changed trains at the next stop.
We started at the the Roman Forum. The ticket gets you into the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. The line at the Roman Forum was MUCH shorter than the Colosseum. Rick Steves gave us an audio tour again (one of the best apps for this trip). Most of the place was a pile of rubble, but it was nice to see where ancient Romans once stood and ruled their corner of the world.
Next, we went to the Colosseum. I'm so glad we already had our ticket. We were told that the line without a ticket was almost 2 hrs long (and this is considered the off season!) We didn't go up to the top level or down into the basement. Much of the Colosseum was looted after the fall of Rome and much of the exterior marble was taken and used to build other buildings, including St. Peters Basilica. Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in Rome before its fall, but prior to that it was illegal to worship God. Occasionally Christians were killed at the Colosseum. When catholicism took over, they saw no reason to keep it around. It wasn't until one pope (don't remember who) took pity on the ancient building that he consecrated it a religious site, put a cross inside, and declared it a historic site. The Colosseum was the place to watch animals fight, people fight animals, or people fight other people, always to the death. It was kind of an eerie place to be. It is rumored that christians were feed to the lions here, but some scholars disagree.
We walked away from the Colosseum toward the Piazza de Venezia which is where the Vittoriano stands. It is a large art museum, be we didn't go inside today. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ancient Roman ruins. The meal was delicious.
We walked to the Church of Saint Ignatius. Another beautiful church. It had amazing frescos on the walls and ceiling. The inside of the dome is painted so as you walk around, it looks like the dome is off center.
A short walk away was the Pantheon. This is the dome that the Duomo in Florence was modeled after. It is considered an architectural marvel. The dome is made from concrete and is the original dome from 126AD. It was a place to worship all the Roman gods but when Christianity took over, it became a Catholic church. It houses the tomb of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist, along with two italian kings. The dome is impressive. When it was built, there was nothing covering the top so they made holes in the floor and sloped the floor to help direct rain water.
Next was the Trevi Fountain. It was kind of disappointing as the fountain was under construction and covered in scaffolding. We didn't get the full effect. What we could see was beautiful. You are supposed to throw a coin in the fountain which symbolizes a future return to Rome. Since the fountain was not on, we didn't throw a coin.
We finally made it to the Spanish Steps. It is considered the widest staircase in Europe. It connects two piazzas together. It is also the main shopping district in Rome so there were people everywhere.
We headed back to the hotel and rested for a while. We had a small pizza dinner. Again, it was delicious. I really enjoy the pizza here. Alan, being a big Papa John's fan, thinks the pizza is ok.
Arrivederci
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