Our First Full Day in Rome

Our private guide, Carla, from IDI Tours in Italy (IDI is an absolutely wonderful travel resource in Italy - and perhaps other countries) arrived promptly at 9:00 this morning to take us on a tour of ancient Rome. It’s really great to have an intelligent, enthusiastic guide that knows so much about a city. We drove from the hotel to the Colosseum along the major streets of Rome, passing a number of important buildings and statues. One important one was that of Marcus Aurelius, one of the last 5 good Emperors of Rome who was really a “Philosopher – Emperor”. He was an educated man of letters and thought to be very strong in battle, but very just to the people.

The Colosseum was spectacular. It’s 2,000 years old and in pretty good condition, considering. As we walked through the entrance ways, it was almost like being in a football stadium. There are 58 entrances around the circumference of the building, each numbered, so the patrons could find their way to their correct seats. Of course the Emperor had his own entrance, which is now marked by a Cross, signifying the Christian victory over persecution in the arena. Over the years, Popes have blessed the area. The original name of the Colosseum was the Flavian Amphitheater. But Emperor Nero had a 100 foot bronze statue of himself constructed just outside the grounds that was so large and “ugly” (colossal) that the Amphitheater was then known as the “COLOSS-EUM”

Then, we walked to The Palatine Hill and the remains of the huge palaces of the Caesars. Palatine Hill is one of the 7 Hills of Rome and sits between the Colosseum and the original city location of the Forum. If you remember from your early History courses, the seven hills of Rome are: Aventine, Palatine, Caelian, Esquiline, Capitoline, Viminal and Quirinal. At one point there were so many palaces on Palatine Hill that the newer Emperors started building in the suburbs. Legend has it that the huts of Romulus and Remus are located at the top of Palatine Hill.

Just below Palatine Hill is the Roman Forum – the oldest section of ancient Rome and its original settlement. It’s located at the lowest point between the seven hills and has a number of temples built to honor the gods of the day. Building for the court system, the building for the money system and a tower to mark “Ground Zero” where all roads out of Rome, began measurement.

About this time, our guide left us and dropped us off at a small café in Campo di Fiori which has a lot of wonderful small artisan shops and office. We mapped out our walk home to include The Patheon and the Piazza Navona. These are two wonderful places in Rome that are filled with tourists that want to see FREE monuments, statues and fountains.

The Pantheon has the best preserved interior of any ancient Roman building and became a church in 64 AD, and was later dedicated to the martyrs killed after the fall of Rome. The dome of the Pantheon is amazing. It’s one, complete concrete cast, 142 feet high, and it gets thinner and lighter as it goes up. Raphael is buried in one section of the building.

The Piazza Navona has wonderful fountains by Bernini and great outdoor cafes. The area on the outside of the Piazza was originally a racetrack for the Emperor Domitian.

Well, we finally made it back to the hotel – in the heat of the Roman afternoon sun. We’re sitting down for a comfortable afternoon nap – and will set out again for dinner and wine about 8:30.

Tomorrow is a tour of the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. Ciao!