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Day 39: Friday, October 13, 2006
Rome, Italy The
Colossal Coliseum
I had to buy a Thesaurus for this website.
Rome is filled with so many breath-taking buildings, churches,
fountains, piazzas, statues, etc. that I started to run out of words
to describe them all. We started the day with a very good
complementary breakfast in the hotel. We then walked a couple
of km southwest from our hotel. We passed through the Parco
di Traiano which contains Domus Aurea, Nero's Golden House.
At the other side of the park we came upon the Colosseum (Coliseum).
It is a truly spectacular site. Now a mere shell, the Coliseum
still remains the greatest architectural legacy from ancient Rome.
The Coliseum was constructed in 72-80 AD. Although much of it
is gone - it's iron and marble were looted to build other monuments
in Rome - there is still much to see. There was a huge line-up
so we paid 21€ each (which included the 10€ admission charge) to
join a tour. We used a separate entrance and did not have to
wait very long to get in. Unfortunately our guide's English
was very poor, she did not seem to know much - she kept repeating
the same things over and over - and her microphone and our earphones
were constantly malfunctioning. We stopped at another group
who had a very knowledgeable guide and followed them. We
learned a lot from this guide. In its day, it had elevators
and underground tunnels which could be filled with water and naval
battles where staged inside the Coliseum. See the slide
show below for photos of the Coliseum. For more information on the
Colosseum go to
http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/colosseum.htm
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This panorama
of the inside of the Coliseum was formed by stitching together
four
of my individual photos. For a larger view
click
here. |
Our tour
fee also included a free guided tour of the Palatine hills.
Legend says the Palatine is the site of the original village founded
by Romulus and Remus.
Unfortunately we just missed the 12:00 noon tour and the next one
didn't leave until 2:00 pm. We walked down to Circus
Maximus which was built for chariot races. It is just a
large grasses field now. We came back and had lunch (pizza and
beer) in a restaurant across the street from the Coliseum. We
met the rest of our tour group and our New Zealand guide Ryan at the
Coliseum exit. The Palatine is one of the most pleasant
archaeological sites of the city, shaded with pines and overgrown
with light vegetation and Ryan gave us an interesting, informative
tour filled with humour (mostly at the expense of Australians).
And more importantly, we could understand him.
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After a
couple of hours on the Palatine, we went back down to the
Arch of Titus and the beginning of the Via Sacra (the
Sacred Way), the famous street that leads through the Roman
Forum. As we walked through the ruins of the ancient forum
is was almost easy to transport yourself back in time. I
took lots of photos on here and on the Palatine and you can see
them in the slide show below. At the end of the Sacred Way
we had a huge climb up many stairs to the top of the
Capitoline Hill. Ken barely made it with his wonky
knees. The photo at left is the view looking back at the
Coliseum in the distance. After checking out the Piazza
del Campidoglio with its Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo
dei Conservatori at the top of the Capitoline, it was back
down the other side and a short walk to the breath-taking
Monument Victor Emmanuel II, celebrating united Italy's
first king. |
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Looking back
along the Sacred Way and the Roman Forum from atop Capitoline
Hill. The Palatine Hill is on the right and the Coliseum
is in the far background |
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We then walked about
a km to the Pantheon, the oldest (27 BC) structure in
Rome to survive in its entirety. The dome is as high as it
is wide and is a model for Michelangelo's St. Peter's Bascilica.
A popular though rare site is snow flakes wafting to the floor
from the hole in the top of the Dome when it snows.
From here it
was a short walk to Piazza Navona, Rome's loveliest of
squares. This pedestrian paradise is filled with cafes,
street performers, and splashing fountains. Kathryn had
her daily gelato fix and Ken tried Restaurant Tre Scalini's
famous dessert, Tartufo, which is a rich, creamy ice
cream |
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The Pantheon
Dome |
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drenched in
chocolate, cherries, and whipped cream (the diet variety of
course). We saw a wedding at the S.
Agnese in Agone church in Navona Square They all
looked very rich. After being entertained by several
street entertainers we made the long trek home. Along the
way Kathryn got excited when we came across a sunken
archeological site that was a dedicated home for stray cats.
When we got back to the hotel we went to our favourite take-out
place next door and ordered up some delicious donair sandwiches.
As we were on our way to our annex, we couldn't help but notice
that both sides of the street were covered with double parked
cars - parking is a premium in Rome. By now Ken's knees
were screaming and we went to bed early. |
Click here for a slide show of Day 39 photos.
Day 40
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