Italy Day 9: Rome

We again got off to an early start on our last full day in Italy.  I finally remembered to snap a picture of the Spanish Steps. We caught the metro right around the corner from here.  It was a beautiful morning and the steps were deserted due to the early hour. 

This time we rode the metro to the Coliseum and met up with our tour group for a walking tour of the Coliseum, Palentine Hill, and the Roman Forum.  After learning about the Renaissance for most of our trip, switching to Ancient Rome was a nice change of pace. 

We learned that during the time the Coliseum was used, it was used daily for a variety of events.  Each morning, hunters were brought in to kill animals from all over the world.  Different types of flora was arranged depending on the type of animal.  After the animal was killed, they would cook the meat and give it to the spectators.  Then at noon each day the Coliseum held public executions.  These two types of events made the people loyal:  they were loyal to the government that fed them and they learned to follow the rules so as not to be executed.

Gladiator fights were reserved for holidays.

We got to go down below to wear the gladiators, slaves and the animals were kept.

And then we got to go way up to the very top.  Both the top and bottom areas are only available to tour groups, so we were glad we went with a tour group. 

Just outside of the Coliseum is the Arch of Constantine, built in A.D. 315 to mark the victory of Constantine over Rome.

Nearby is Palentine Hill, one of Rome's seven hills.  This a view of the Coliseum from Palentine Hill.  

Palentine Hill is where Romulus is said to have founded Rome in the 8th century BC;  during the Roman Empire emperors lived on Palentine Hill for over 400 years.  The first "palace" was an ancient temple to some nature god that the earliest Romans worshiped.  After that the world "palace" came to mean the dwellings of the emperors.  These are some ruins from the palaces. 

Our last stop on the tour was the Roman Forum.  Once the focus of political, social, legal and commercial life in Rome, the Forum was the center point of Rome. 

On one end is the Arch of Titus, through which victorious soldiers would ride in showing off their slaves and treasures from the groups they had conquered.

The arch of Titus

Inside the Arch of Titus is a relief telling the story of the conquest of Jerusalem.

I loved the beautiful wisteria growing on the ruins.

 

We saw this SPQR symbol everywhere around Rome.  It is initials from a Latin phrase coined during ancient Rome meaning The Senate and People of Rome.  It is an inclusive term meaning that everyone is a part of the city.  We saw it on fountains (to this day, the people can still drink freely from the waters in the fountains), buildings and here the SPQR symbol was on some sort of drain.  I had to take a picture of my feet on it--I was really there (!) and for a moment got to be part of the Roman experience!

All the marble and anything of value was taken from the Ancient Roman ruins long ago.  During the Renaissance, the Romans used the marble and gold to build elaborate churches.  As our tour guide put it, the Romans were very practical--why would they go quarry new marble when it was there in the ruins for the taking? 

 

Our tour ended in the forum, but we stayed around a bit longer exploring and listening to our Rick Steve's audio tour (have I mentioned how he was my new best friend in Italy?  His friendly voice guided us through all the major sites.  Best tip ever was to download his free audio guides). 

 

Nearby was the largest circus in the world where they held the chariot races (think Ben Hur).  Now it is just a big open space but it isn't hard to imagine those chariots flying past. 



 

We crossed the Tiber river and took a walking tour of Travestere, a neighborhood on the other side of the river.  

We stopped at the San Cecilia church, but it wasn't open.

Street scene in Travestere

Later we stopped at Santa Maria in Travestere.   

The church is right in the main piazza. In Italy, the piazzas really serve as a giant living room and community center.  People gather each evening--the youth flirt, the ladies gossip, the men talk politics, etc.  They go to church.  Even now, in this piazza, during soccer tournaments, they set up a big screen TV and the whole neighborhood gathers to watch the game.  I had a fun time people watching.

 

We ate lunch at a restaurant recommended in our guidebook, Dar Poeta, which was a very good pizzeria. 



I had pizza with eggplant, tomato sauce and cheese.  David had one with cheese, sausage and mushrooms.  Roman pizzas have a thin, crispy crust and a wide variety of toppings. 

The restaurant was tucked in this little alley.

 

 

We walked back across the river to the Campo de Fiori and walked through the piazza where they were having a big market, but it was just wrapping up.  There were no metro stations close, so we caught a cab to St. Peter in Vincoli, meaning St. Peter in chains. 

 

The church was up this really cool staircase.

 

 

 

It opened up to a square with this rather nondescript church.  But as usual, it was very cool inside. 

 



Under the alter are the chains that supposedly held Peter before he was killed. 

This church also holds Michelangelo's Moses statute. 

Here is David in the same pose as Moses outside the church. 

 

Here was David's more typical pose:

 

He was a good navigator.

I took this picture for Ben, who is our Nutella lover. 

And I had to capture the amazing gelato we ate every day.  I think this was pineapple and strawberry.  So, so, so good!

Next we walked to the metro and took it to Piazza de Repubblica.  Here was a cool fountain and a church designed by Michelangelo out of the ruins of the largest public bath in Ancient Rome. 

He kept the façade the same, but inside was a spectacular church!

A view of the Piazza de Repubblica from the front of the church.

Back on the metro a few more stops to Piazza del Popolo.  This was a very large piazza which was very crowded because it was now Saturday evening.  It was a fun place for people watching.  There was a guy dressed and dancing like Michael Jackson, boys playing soccer, and lots of people milling around.  On one end of the piazza was an old city gate,

and the church Santa Maria del Popolo that had some cool Caravaggio paintings. 

 

We walked back to the Spanish Steps for one last visit on the way to our hotel.  This time, on a Saturday night, the steps were full of people.  We stopped here for a while for some more people watching.  We stopped for some food and ate it on the walk back.  

The next morning we got up early and headed off to the airport.  Our Italy adventure was over!  It was such a great trip--we saw so much amazing art, ate some fabulous food, and visited some of the coolest places in the world.  But, we missed our kids and were ready to head home.