Friday, Jan. 21, Palatine Hill, Peter-in-Chains Church

Friday turned out to be a clear day, so we decided to do the walking tour of the Palatine Hill. This is the hill that Romulus decided to build the city of Rome. We got the audio tour. I highly recommend doing this as it explains what you are looking at and brings the history alive. Otherwise, you are just looking at ruins or statues of people. They are also accurate unlike our 81 year old guide from a few days ago.
From the top of the hill you have a commanding view of the Forum, Colosseum and the spot where Circus Maximus once stood.
THE IMPERIAL PALACE

STADIUM WITHIN PALACE

MIKE ON TOP OF THE PALATINE HILL WITH THE COLOSSEUM IN THE BACKROUND

TEMPLE OF ANTONINIUS AND FAUSTINA AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE PALATINE HILL

ARCH OF TITUS

THOUGHT TO BE THE SITE WHERE CAESAR WAS CREMATED

MIKE, TAKING A BREAK ON A 2000+ YEAR OLD COLUMN

We stopped back at what is becoming our favorite cafe just above the Colosseum. The waiter, Francisco, has been most helpful. He told us we should not miss a church close by as it had the statue of Moses by Michelangelo inside. The church is called San Pietro in Vincoli, which means: Saint Peter in Chains. The outside wasn't very impressive, but the inside....wow!

CHAINS THOUGHT TO HAVE BOUND SAINT PETER WHEN HE WAS A PRISONER AT MAMERTINE PRISON

Until next time...........

More of Rome

Our hotel is right next to the open air market. It is huge. Anything you could want to eat and it is all fresh. From our 6th floor window, we can see people coming and going. This what the inside looks like.

We got a three day Rome Pass which allows us to use the bus and underground and gives us free admission to museums and archaeological sites. The underground took us to a jumping off place to see many of the sites of Rome. Not to be missed is the beautiful Baroque Trevi Fountain designed and built by Bernini. Ledgend says that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you are sure to return to Rome. It worked for me last time!

The Pantheon is another building that was made into a church after Constantine accepted Christianity. The Romans simply added crosses or some other icon to change the pagan places into holy places. The Pantheon is now considered a church. The building is as wide as it is tall. The most striking feature is the eye or large open hole in the center of the dome. The Pantheon is also the final resting place for Raphael.



The Piazza Narvona is one of the largest plazas in Rome. It was build on the 1st Century site of the Stadium of Domition. It is a large oval with 3 fountains. There was much rivalry among the artist in the Baroque period. Bernini's central fountain is the Fountain of 4 Rivers. It is said that he posed the statues as if shielding their eyes from a building built by a rival.

The other two fountains were made by Giacomo della Porta. This one was as one end.

All of the fountains have clear pure and cold water. People have no problem getting a drink or filling up a water bottle. The fountain in front of the Spanish Steps was designed like a sinking ship to lower the fountain so that the pressure was sufficient.

We had a Rick Steve's book and he said the very best view in Rome could be found at the top of Victor Emmanuel and he wasn't kidding. The views from the top are better than even the top of St. Peters. It is a little hard to find, but well worth the effort. From the top, you can see all of Rome. The best views of the entire Forum and Colosseum, and all the way to The Castel of Sant Angelo and St. Peter's Basilica.
Victor Emmanuel is on Capitoline Hill right next to the Capitoline Museum. This is a shot from the backside, with the horses and chariot on top.

Here Mike is on top with the horse statue behind him.

And a closer view of the statue.

That's it for now but much more to come. Until next time

Rainy day in Rome

Today we started out at the Spanish Steps. The Metro took us very close, so it was a quick walk.







We can not get over the traffic and how people park their cars.


Smart cars can park either sideways or straight in. Seems young and old, have Vespas and they drive like their life depend on them going fast. By the way, there are no center lines in the street and they often drive three abreast with inches between the cars. Yikes!

This is a view of The Castle of St. Angelo



We got as far as Saint Peters Square. They still have the Nativity set up.









In the afternoon we went to the Borghese Gallery. They have some of the most beautiful sculptures in the world including David and Daphne and Apollo. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed. You will just have to come to Rome.

This evening we went back to the Colosseum to see it at night.


Until next time.....

Walking through Ancient Rome

Today we used our Rome Pass. We purchased a three day pass for use of the public transportation and admission to two museums and one archeological site. We got off the Metro at Barberini and started walking to see the Trivi fountain. This a beautiful Baroque fountain is tucked away amid many large buildings.





From there we headed to the Pantheon. The building is huge with a round roof bigger than St. Peters. The building is as tall as it is wide with a hole cut into the roof which is the only source of light inside. The floors appear to be marble. The tomb of Raphael is inside.








The Piazza de Narvona is the largest plaza in Rome. It is set up like a race track with beautiful fountains in the center.


Comp de Fiori is the place of flowers, not to mention fresh fruits and vegetables.

We decided to walk along the Tiber River on our way back to the Capital Museum. We took Rick Steve's advice to see the best view of Rome, even better than the view from St. Peter's. It is a little hard to find. First you have to find the statue of the She Wolf musing Romulus and Remus.



Looking to the left, there is a very wide staircase which you climb to the top and go thru the metal gate. Off to your right there is a doorway marked only with the number 13. Go through and around the little cafe to the elevator. You pay 7 Euros, 3.5 if you are a senior. It takes you up to the top of the Victor Emmanuel Monument and from there you have a 360 view of Rome. Spectacular!








After climbing back down we went to the museum. Actually it is three museums. It has everything about ancient Rome. There are more statues that I have ever seen in any one place. The most impressive is the statue of the Dying Gaul. They have left some of the archeology digs open inside the museum.















Across the street and to the left is Trajan's Column. He had this built with the story of his conquests depicted in relief as it spirals up the column. I wonder how the did that and then lifted into place?

Mike and I had a very full day and have been having an early night. Until next time......

Hello from Rome

We left about noon to allow plenty of time to get to Orlando. TSA was not as bad as I thought, no X-ray and no pat down. Took about 45 minutes to get through the lines. Since we didn't eat lunch and knew the plane dinner would not be served until at least 8:30, we had a nice mid afternoon meal at Outback on our concourse.
Flying to Europe is always very long and for me, I find it very hard if not impossible to sleep on a plane. There was a crying baby and three guys playing a dice game in the row next to me. The flight to Gatwick took 7 1/2hours and our layover was also7 hours, then another 2 hours to Rome, a train ride and then the walk to hotel. We were up for 30 hours.



From plane window, the Matterhorn in the Alps.
The Best Western Ambro Palace is really nice and only a few short blocks to the train station.



There is an open air Market right across the street from us that you can buy anything fresh. It is a very popular place. We slept in till 8:00 the next morning. Breakfast is included In our room price and it was really nice with eggs, breads, meats, fruit, cereal, yogurt and more. We ate more than enough to fuel us for a full day.
Sight seeing today brought us to the ancient part of Rome. We decided to take a tour so that we would get the history. Our guide was 81 years old.



Our guide

He was nice, but the young man who provided the tour 10 years ago, was much better.



The Flavian Amphitheater, better know as the Colosseum, was built between 75 and 80 BC. It is 188 meters long, 156 meters wide and 50 meters high. They used over 100,000 cubic meters or travertine stone which was placed without any mortar, Spacers od bronze s were inserted in spaces cut out of the blocks to allow for movement during earthquakes. Later, brick and mortar where added to help strengthen the walls from erosion. the oval amphitheater could hold 80,000 people. Below, wild animals were kept for the gladiators to kill.
They had counterweight elevators that would bring the animals up to the wooden floor. A wire mesh wall was erected around it to prevent any animals from getting at the crowds. Just in case they also sationed archers around the oval. Thfro had a cover that could be hoisted overe the top in case of bad weather. Shows were held here for four centuries with the last one held in 438 AD.
Next we walked along the ruins of the Forum.



The forum started out as one square that was a political center. Over time, emperors and conquerors would add more and more squares as the population grew. These squares held the senate building and shops and temples. Some of the temples were to Vesta, Vulcan, Saturn, Janus, Castor and Pollux. Rome was a very pagan place until the time of Constantine. The forum is also the site were the Vestal Virgins tended the flame to Vesta. Six girls from the age of 6-10 were chosen to keep the flame going at all times. If they let the flame go out, their punishment was to be buried alive. The girls had to remain virgins until they were 30 years old. It is believed that one of these virgins became the mother of Romulus and Remus. She was buried alive and her two sons were put in a basket and sent adrift on the Tiber river. Their cries were heard by a she wolf and the wolf nursed the babies. Romulus is the founder of Rome.
Until next time.....

Happy New Year

Another year has come and gone. How quickly time passes. I have had a great year. Of course, every year is a good year if you are on this side of the dirt. I am looking forward to 2011.

Eight of the single ladies in the park decided to go out to dinner and a movie. We went to a Japanese Steak house where they cook the food in front of you. We had a great time. It is nice to meet new people. Our waiter was a hoot. He built a volcano with onion slices stacked on top of each other, filled it with oil and lit it on fire.


ONION VOLCANO


PAT, URSULA, JUDY AND ME

CLARISSA, PAT, LUCY AND MARGARET

I am told from my married friends that the New Year's Party at the club house was a lot of fun and that everyone was dancing most of the night. Seems we all had a good time in our own way.

Getting ready for the trip to Italy and London and I am really excited about that. Didn't think I would be going back to Europe, but you never know what opportunities there are until you look into them. To all my family and friends, I wish you the best new year ever. Stay healthy and happy. More adventures to come.... Until next time......................