Friday, September 21, 2012
A COLOSSAL DAY
Woke up to another fabulous sunny day in Rome. Tom and I, and Jane and Donna headed off to our Colosseum tour after breakfast...what an awesome experience. Just being in this incredible building, walking where the great Caesars walked, and imagining everything that went on on that floor below, was unbelievable. I think back to my grade 7 social studies, and how interesting it was to learn about the Colosseum and the gladiators, the fascination has stuck with me ever since. I never dreamed back then that I would one day be lucky enough to touch those walls.
We also visited the Roman Forum.... Or what remains of it, seeing where Julius Caesar was cremated. We walked to the top of Palantine Hill, the spot where Rome began.
We hopped the city bus over to Trastevere.....an amazing part of the city across the Tiber river. We had a great lunch, Tom and I experiencing our first true Italian pizza and enjoyed some great wine . The four of us agreed that we have not met a bottle of wine we didn't like on this trip...what a good sign.
We visited the Santa Maria Church and Jane graciously went in and asked for forgiveness for all of us. What a good friend. We then found a lovely bar across from the church in a little cobblestone alley, and shared another good bottle of wine.....we were on a roll. Perhaps we will have to make another visit to Santa Maria's before we leave, but oh we are having fun!
We visited the Pantheon later in the afternoon, just an amazing building. It was built almost 2,000 years ago as a temple to all the gods . The dome is as high as it is wide, and open
to let natural light in,
there are holes in the marble floor for drainage when it rains.
Tom and I meandered along more narrow streets and squares and then caught the double decker bus for another spin around Rome as darkness fell and gave the city an even more magical feel.
Still full from lunch, but never too full to enjoy a gelato, we had dessert for dinner as we walked back to our hotel. What an amazing day. Heading to the Vatican tomorrow.....stay tuned.
We also visited the Roman Forum.... Or what remains of it, seeing where Julius Caesar was cremated. We walked to the top of Palantine Hill, the spot where Rome began.
We hopped the city bus over to Trastevere.....an amazing part of the city across the Tiber river. We had a great lunch, Tom and I experiencing our first true Italian pizza and enjoyed some great wine . The four of us agreed that we have not met a bottle of wine we didn't like on this trip...what a good sign.
We visited the Santa Maria Church and Jane graciously went in and asked for forgiveness for all of us. What a good friend. We then found a lovely bar across from the church in a little cobblestone alley, and shared another good bottle of wine.....we were on a roll. Perhaps we will have to make another visit to Santa Maria's before we leave, but oh we are having fun!
We visited the Pantheon later in the afternoon, just an amazing building. It was built almost 2,000 years ago as a temple to all the gods . The dome is as high as it is wide, and open
to let natural light in,
there are holes in the marble floor for drainage when it rains.
Tom and I meandered along more narrow streets and squares and then caught the double decker bus for another spin around Rome as darkness fell and gave the city an even more magical feel.
Still full from lunch, but never too full to enjoy a gelato, we had dessert for dinner as we walked back to our hotel. What an amazing day. Heading to the Vatican tomorrow.....stay tuned.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
JUST ROMAN AROUND TOWN.....
Woke up to a beautiful blue sky today, so we took Jane's suggestion and toured the city on the hop on-hop off double decker bus. What an awesome adventure, this city is incredible. Everywhere you look is another piece of history. Can only imagine what is what like as all this amazing architecture was being built. We got off and meandered down cobblestone streets enjoying every bend in the road....and believe me there are lots of bends. I don't think this city has a single road that is straight for more than 2 blocks. We climbed the Spanish Steps and found a great spot to people watch. Also threw our coins in the Trevi Fountain, adding a few to the 800,000 euros that are thrown in annually....somebody was smart to start that tradition....tradition being that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder while wishing to return to Rome, it will come true. Tomorrow we are touring the Colosseum.....so looking forward to that. Stay tuned.....
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