Today was another long one, filled to the brim. As usual, Dusty was up and ready before me. He left to get breakfast while I showered and tidied the room up. Soon he came back with pastries and fruit for us. After checking our supplies, we left for another day in Rome. We walked to the site of the ancient Baths of Diocletian, which now lie in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The only things remaining of the baths, available for viewing that is, were 8 red granite columns still being used in the support of the walls.
The organ of the church was an impressive sight. Can you imagine playing that? You can hardly find the keyboards!
Very soon, we walked a little north to the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. It's a small church albeit very ornate. On the west side is the sculpture by Bernini of St. Teresa in Ecstasy.
Almost next door is another little church-- Santa Susanna. The alterpiece is very eye catching. It was starting to get warm outside and the churches were a cool respite.
Using our map, we began walking toward the Roman Forum. We passed lots of embassies and official-looking government buildings. We would continue to see random ruins excavated twenty feet below us. It was exciting to be walking off the beaten path and not running into very many other tourists.
Before we knew it, we had almost reached our destination. Before us we could see the giant Victor Emmanuel Monument and also Trajan's Column. This column gives us a continuous narration of history as is spirals around the pillar.
You can't really tell, but this Monument is massive. Victor is sitting triumphantly atop his horse in front of the building, and to put it in perspective, just his moustache is over 5 feet long!
As we walked south, we came to Caesar's Forum, which is basically an excavated area being restored and preserved, of the most central areas of Ancient Rome.
We used our Roma Pass to get us in and bypass the lines. We followed Rick Steves little self-guided tour and walked through the old ruins.
This is part of the Forum's Ancient Main Square.
This magnificent thing is the Arch of Septimius Severus.
Here are remnants of the Temple of Saturn. This was the Forum's oldest temple, built in 497 BC.
The statues used to line the House of the Vestal Virgins. These girls were chosen before they were 10, and lived as virgins for 30 years. If she lived as she was supposed to she was given a huge dowry and allowed to marry when she was 40.
Here is Dusty attempting to find some shade after refilling our water bottles with fresh, cool water from one of the many public water fountains in the city. Such a great thing Rome has going for it! Never buy bottled water here; after awhile you can always find a fountain.
The Forum was very fascinating and we wandered through it for quite some time. Leaving from the south exit, our eyes were met with the Arch of Constantine. This arch is decorated with carvings rescued from other crumbling and decaying buildings. It marks the time when Christianity became the mainstream religion.
Right next to the Arch is the the Colosseum! Something everybody needs to see once, we admired it for a bit before getting up close and personal.
An interesting fact: The bottom layer of columns are Doric, the middle layer Ionic, and the top are Corinthian. Cool huh?
We used our Roma Pass again to get in and bypass the lines--which were extensive. After breezing in, we read about the creation of the Colosseo and how they know so much about it. When people used to watch the games in the ancient times, they used to chisel in "graffiti" about their favorite gladiators. Because of this, we know names of gladiators and what they looked like. Maybe they weren't so different from us-- in that some of us have no problem with defacing public property. Don't look at me!
Climbing up to the top sections, you have a pretty good view of the entire arena. They have covered a portion of the floor, giving us a good idea of how it may have looked way back when. In ancient times, they strung a giant canvas awning across the top to give the spectators shade.
Speaking of shade, by this time it was starting to get hot and we decided it was time to find a cool place.
We read that a sculpture by Michelangelo was in a nearby Church, St. Peter in Chains, and we thought that it sounded interesting, so we took the metro to the Church. Alas, it was closed for the midday break, which stupid me could have discovered sooner if I had only consulted the RS Bible, ahem, guidebook.
Instead we found some pizzas to eat nearby and took them back to eat in the shade of the Church.
Not a super-flattering one of me, but forgive me, I was starving. :)
Instead of trudging somewhere else in the heat, we took the metro up a stop to Termini and walked to our hotel for a little siesta. It was fabulous. After about an hour of rest, we were ready to begin our second part of sight-seeing for the day.
The National Museum of Rome has four different locations, and the one we wanted to see was very near our hotel. This Museum was also very empty--when compared to the crowds of the Colosseum. It has a very good collection of ancient Roman sculpture. Our favorites: The best Roman copy of the Greek Discus Thrower, the sculpture of the Sitting Boxer, the collection of ancient Roman jewelry, and a incredible coin collection from every age in history (the best in Europe evidently).
This carved sarcophagus was very absorbing. We looked at it for quite some time.
They also had mosaics and frescos from the walls and floors of ancient Roman homes. You guess is as good as mine about what is happening in this one!
After the cool (meant both ways) Museum, we ventured into the more unknown part of the city to visit the MAXXI-- the Modern Art Museum of Rome. We hopped on the tram and hoped that we could follow the map well enough to find it. Find it we did, but much to our dismay it was closing in half an hour and they wouldn't sell us tickets! Hint: we didn't get our faulty information from the RS book, but from another source. We were incredibly sad.
We did find this Church on the way, though. If that's any consolation.
With some amount of despair, we took the tram back to the Piazza del Popolo. But after coming back to our senses we remembered that we were in ROME! And it was turning out to be a beautiful evening.
In the Piazza is yet another obelisk, which once stood in the Temple of Ramses II in Egypt. There are two twin churches (one seen below). Also in the Piazza is the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo which contains the Chigi Chapel (which book has this chapel in its plot?) and many Caravaggio paintings.
Via del Corso is the main street leading south down towards the Victor Emmanuel Monument. We started walking along it and also succumbed to more gelato, this time with whipped cream on top. About fifteen minutes later we turned down a side street to see the Ara Pacis and Mausoleum of Augustus. But before we made it, we saw a heavenly-looking little restaurant and decided to get some dinner. We ate at Re Cafe and shared a Margherita pizza and pasta with goat cheese and mussels. We also enjoyed several glasses of sparkling water (our new favorite thing) and basked in the sunset. Street musicians were also playing.
The sum of these things = a perfect way to spend our last night here in Rome.
We did end up wandering around the Ara Pacis and on the far side of it is this little modern fountain.
As the night started to fall, we did a bit of shopping. We found a GAP and both of us got several shirts.
We looked at more shoes, but didn't find the perfect fit.
Since we were so close, we stopped by the Trevi Fountain again. I'm glad we did. It was so much fun to see at night. We bought drinks at a shop nearby and joined the masses in celebrating Rome.
After our drinks were gone, we picked ourselves up and continued our night walk. We made it back to the Monument, which had fantastic night lights.
A Police Officer was nearby to keep the peace.
Our final stop in this long day was saying goodbye to the Colosseum before getting onto the Metro.
We made it back to our hotel and packed up most of our luggage for our flight in the morning. Even though we were exhausted, we face-timed our family to say we were excited to be coming home!
Dusty and I loved Rome, we had such a great time.
What I want to remember about Rome:
wild red poppies on the train tracks one man singing to another in the post office
sitting in the Colosseum eating dinner together al fresco realizing we liked sparkling water
the first hot day of vacation the crazy airport waiters trying to persuade you to eat
a pigeon in the airport mix of old and "newer" so many many churches
cold drinking fountains all over the city flowers cascading from buildings busy piazzas
the jam packed, irregular metro sunlight reflecting off the colorful structures statues
window shopping pizzas dripping with cheese and crisp crusts Italian TV
women in fabulous but impractical shoes the courtyard into our hotel crazy drivers
