(See last week's post for Rome part 1, which covered the following: Outside the Colosseum, inside the Forum, first trip to the Pantheon, Torre Argentina/Area Sacra, Piazza Navona, the outside of Castel Sant'Angelo, and a few other incidental visits.)
After a wild first day in Rome, we jumped out of bed early for an over-fill of our hotel breakfast because we knew we'd need calories. By 8:30 we were queued for the Colosseum and were inside before 9:00. Of course, it was still head-scratching to walk there and pass Trajan's Market, the various forums, and the Arch of Constantine to get there, but that's just part of being in Rome.
Inside the Colosseum though...that place is a trip. They do a pretty good job of loading the concourse-area with information and artifacts, allowing you to learn about the building instead of just rushing to the inside area and looking around (which is obviously what everyone wants to do anyway). There's not a whole lot I can say about it that people haven't said before. It's not nearly as complete as the one we visited in Verona, although it's much bigger and much more famous.
My biggest takeaway was something I've mentioned to countless people: They say travel broadens the mind and I found that it made me think of things I'd never thought before. As we walked into the actual arena, I was dragging my hand along the wall like I might as a kid and realized that it's realistic to think that some kid 1900 years ago was doing the exact same thing in that exact same spot. It's incredible. What a bizarre, wonderful, seemingly impossible connection. Does that mean we're any different than people back then? Are we totally the same? Am I just a child? Fun stuff to think about.
After about 90 minutes we were back outside and heading into Trajan's Market - AKA the oldest shopping mall in the world. The complex used to have shops, bars, offices, and apartments but is now (obviously) a museum. Inside you can still see the grooves in the floors of where the sliding doors (so to speak) would hold and keep out unwanted visitors. The whole complex was remarkable.
Once we felt like we'd had enough, we were off to our next destination, which was apparently the Spanish Steps. They're one of those things we'd heard about but knew very little of, and then were pretty underwhelmed by. It was a pleasant enough place to have a sit, and there was a fountain at the bottom which was surrounded by news cameras and roped off. We figured it was being remodeled or something but we later learned that it was vandalized by Dutch soccer fans.
Anyway, at the top of the steps was Villa de Medici; the Medicis were one of the most powerful families in Europe in medieval times, producing four Popes, two Queens of France (and their children were future leaders of France and Spain), and countless other famous names. The Villa itself is a museum and behind it is the massive grounds of the Villa Borghese - that of another wildly wealthy/powerful family.
All of this is to say that we strolled along the gardens of Villa Borghese a bit, noting the famous faces on hundreds of bust-sculptures that dotted the area. We also noticed the rentable tandem-bikes, but they were fresh out when we inquired. Instead we wandered to a ledge that overlooked the northern part of Rome and Piazza del Popolo, featuring one of the tallest obelisks on Rome. This was a good choice.
We walked down through the square and decided we might want to head back toward, well, everything. We passed the Ara Pacis (not sure quite what it is, to be honest), and the Mausoleum of Augustus. We strolled along the river again as night set in. We stopped for gelato at least once but probably twice. We watched the sun set over the river for the 2nd straight night. We visited the cats of Torre Argentina again. And we ultimately found ourselves at Teatro Marcello, which we knew nothing about, other than that it looked very cool. And what to our wondering eyes should appear? Why, it's Venus, right near the moon, just above Roman ruins.
After a wild first day in Rome, we jumped out of bed early for an over-fill of our hotel breakfast because we knew we'd need calories. By 8:30 we were queued for the Colosseum and were inside before 9:00. Of course, it was still head-scratching to walk there and pass Trajan's Market, the various forums, and the Arch of Constantine to get there, but that's just part of being in Rome.
Inside the Colosseum though...that place is a trip. They do a pretty good job of loading the concourse-area with information and artifacts, allowing you to learn about the building instead of just rushing to the inside area and looking around (which is obviously what everyone wants to do anyway). There's not a whole lot I can say about it that people haven't said before. It's not nearly as complete as the one we visited in Verona, although it's much bigger and much more famous.
My biggest takeaway was something I've mentioned to countless people: They say travel broadens the mind and I found that it made me think of things I'd never thought before. As we walked into the actual arena, I was dragging my hand along the wall like I might as a kid and realized that it's realistic to think that some kid 1900 years ago was doing the exact same thing in that exact same spot. It's incredible. What a bizarre, wonderful, seemingly impossible connection. Does that mean we're any different than people back then? Are we totally the same? Am I just a child? Fun stuff to think about.
After about 90 minutes we were back outside and heading into Trajan's Market - AKA the oldest shopping mall in the world. The complex used to have shops, bars, offices, and apartments but is now (obviously) a museum. Inside you can still see the grooves in the floors of where the sliding doors (so to speak) would hold and keep out unwanted visitors. The whole complex was remarkable.
Once we felt like we'd had enough, we were off to our next destination, which was apparently the Spanish Steps. They're one of those things we'd heard about but knew very little of, and then were pretty underwhelmed by. It was a pleasant enough place to have a sit, and there was a fountain at the bottom which was surrounded by news cameras and roped off. We figured it was being remodeled or something but we later learned that it was vandalized by Dutch soccer fans.
Anyway, at the top of the steps was Villa de Medici; the Medicis were one of the most powerful families in Europe in medieval times, producing four Popes, two Queens of France (and their children were future leaders of France and Spain), and countless other famous names. The Villa itself is a museum and behind it is the massive grounds of the Villa Borghese - that of another wildly wealthy/powerful family.
All of this is to say that we strolled along the gardens of Villa Borghese a bit, noting the famous faces on hundreds of bust-sculptures that dotted the area. We also noticed the rentable tandem-bikes, but they were fresh out when we inquired. Instead we wandered to a ledge that overlooked the northern part of Rome and Piazza del Popolo, featuring one of the tallest obelisks on Rome. This was a good choice.
We walked down through the square and decided we might want to head back toward, well, everything. We passed the Ara Pacis (not sure quite what it is, to be honest), and the Mausoleum of Augustus. We strolled along the river again as night set in. We stopped for gelato at least once but probably twice. We watched the sun set over the river for the 2nd straight night. We visited the cats of Torre Argentina again. And we ultimately found ourselves at Teatro Marcello, which we knew nothing about, other than that it looked very cool. And what to our wondering eyes should appear? Why, it's Venus, right near the moon, just above Roman ruins.
Now that is cool
We retired to our hotel for the evening, exhausted again. I should also mention that this was the 2nd straight day that we ate Subway. We hadn't had a Subway sandwich in about six months and there was one just around the corner from Trajan's Market - we knew what we'd be getting, we knew it would be fast, and it took the guess work out of eating. Besides, it's not like we were only in Italy for a week.
Here are more photos from day 2 in Rome.
Am I giving the impression that I liked it in Rome? I liked it in Rome.
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