Roman Holiday

We had a series of days off work for Italian holidays, so we decided to take advantage of our very long weekend to take a trip to Rome.  We were most looking forward to seeing the Colosseum and the Vatican.

We took the fast train to Termini station (through beautiful Tuscany, can't wait to go there in a few weeks!).  There was a little monitor near our seat, and it showed us moving at 243 km/hr (about 150 mph). 

 

Our hotel, Hotel Morgana, was only two blocks away. 
 

After getting checked in, we walked towards Ancient Rome.  When we first saw the Colosseum, we were quite impressed.  It's the size of a big baseball stadium, but it was built 2000 years ago, and a good part of it is still standing.  Pretty incredible.  On the other hand, it is sad to think about everything that happened here.




We did some more walking, and saw the Forum, beautiful churches, and a refreshingly tranquil park full of locals.  We finished the day with some really good pizza.
 Santa Maria Maggiore

Ruins in the park

Thursday we headed back to Ancient Rome, to tour the landmarks.  We went inside the Colosseum, through the Roman Forum, and across Palatine Hill.  We really enjoyed all of the fascinating history.  Palatine hill was a nice surprise, because hardly anyone goes there, so we were by ourselves among all the ruins.

Ben has no idea that he is seeing so much history and culture.


Inside the Colosseum











The Roman Forum

On Palatine Hill


 Also on Palatine Hill, my favorite statue.

After another delicious dinner, we went through several of the piazzas to see the fountains and monuments under the lights.  This was a great way to see them.  We later saw the same ones during the day, but we decided that they were better at night.
 Trevi Fountain


Friday, we went to Vatican City.  Another beautiful area!  The Sistine Chapel was beyond impressive, as was St. Peter's Basilica. 
 The Sistine Chapel.  I cannot even begin to capture it with the camera.

Afternoon sun in St. Peter's Basilica.

St. Peter's, later, from the elevator across town.



Our last full day we had reservations for Borghese Gallery.  They wouldn't let us bring in anything, including our camera. 

This picture is from the internet, of our favorite part of the gallery, the Bernini sculptures.  This marble sculpture of Apollo and Daphne was executed between 1622 and 1625.  The detail is unbelievable.  They discovered while they were cleaning it, that if you ping the leaves around her fingers, they ring like crystal.  

Rome is so full of amazing history.  From Ancient Rome to the Renaissance works, we kept saying "how did they do that?"  It is so hard to imagine how they were able to build the phenomenal buildings and carve so intricately in the hard marble without the tools we have today. 

We got back Sunday evening, and now we have two days at home to catch up on grocery shopping and laundry.