Arrive in Rome
Trip Start
May 14, 2008
1
14
17
Trip End
May 30, 2008
Rome,
Italy
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
After dropping our bags off we immediately headed for the Colosseum. It is quite amazing to see such a large stadium made of stone and other materials that is still standing after almost 2000 years. The crowds weren't as bad as I had expected.
From there we went to the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. The Palatine Hill has the ruins of some old palaces, one of which was Augustus' palace. Then we walked over to the Roman Forum which was where business was conducted thousands of years ago. There isn't much left that is intact but you can see lots of old stones and marble around the grounds. There are a few Roman columns still standing.
By this point we were burning in the heat. It reached about 90 degrees today and there wasn't much shade at any of these sites. I even carried my umbrella to use to shade myself. But we are still a little burnt anyway. The rest of the day was spent resting in every shady area we could find and filling our water bottles in every fountain we passed.
We moved on to the Pantheon. This building is very impressive. From the outside it looks like an old brick building. But when you walk inside and see just how emormous the dome is you are amazed. And the interior is still in good condition. There is an oculus in the middle of the dome that is the only light source for the building. This is still an active church. We sat in the pews for awhile to rest and enjoy the cool air.
Then after a gelato break we headed for the Trevi fountain. It is a very large fountain surrounded by buildings. We threw a coin in the fountain to ensure our return to Rome.
Then we picked up our tickets from the Church of Santa Sussana to see the Pope tomorrow morning. From there we trudged back to our hostel.
So far Rome seems pretty chaotic. The traffic is heavy and moves fast. There doesn't appear to be any lines dividing the lanes of traffic and people drive everywhere. There are a lot of scooters and motorcycles too. There aren't many crosswalks so you just have to run across the street and hope they stop. But other than that Rome seems to be a good city so far.
