Italy
La Dolce Vita
Rome Travel Journal
May 27
Day 10 - On to Rome
Another traveling day – today we head to Rome for 5 nights.
Up early, packed, tidy the apartment and head off to the train station for our trip to Rome. We catch the 9:30am train.
We get into the Rome Termini station at about 11am. From the station we catch a taxi to our Airbnb accommodation. It is about 5kms away. Our apartment is on the first floor and is really nice. The apartment overlooks Piazza Rondanini, and is about 100m from the Pantheon. The streets are cobblestone outside the apartment and there is a nice looking restaurant in the Piazza just opposite the apartment. It looks to be a very nice location in the ancient neighbourhood of Rome.
We unpack and go out to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies and get some lunch. We walk past the Pantheon to get to the supermarket. It’s nearby also. No doubt we will go to the supermarket a few times while we are in Rome. It's a fairly impressive path to take to the supermarket, walking past the historic Pantheon each time to get there.
After lunch we walk back to visit the Pantheon. There is a queue to get inside, but it moves quickly so we only wait a few minutes before we get in. Entry into the Pantheon is free.
The building is circular inside and another beautiful church. The walls of the Pantheon are 20 feet thick. There is a large domed ceiling and it is amazing. In the centre of the dome is a large hole through which light can enter. It is the only source of natural light, there are no windows in the walls. There is no cover to the hole in the dome, so when it rains, that also falls freely into the Pantheon. There are drainage holes in the floor to allow the water to escape. The walls are adorned with Statues, busts, paintings and other religious artifacts. A beautiful building.
After the Pantheon we head to the Piazza Navona. It is only a short 5-10 minute walk away.
The Piazza is a large public square surrounded by lovely old buildings and contains 2 large fountains, one at each end of the square. The occasional splash of colour from a flower box on a building stands out starkly against the otherwise spares buildings. It’s a beautiful square with all of the old buildings. There are also restaurants at the base of some of the buildings. In the middle of the square are some artists selling their artwork. Again some seems authentic while others look like they have been mass produced with the seller simply having a set of easels and paintbrushes to give a different perception.
We move on – we are ultimately heading towards the Trevi Fountain. On our way we pass by the Obelisk of Monticitorio.
We continue wandering and come to the column of Marcus Aurelius. This is a thick concrete column which is engraved with Roman scenes and chariots. It looks like that at some time in the past there were stairs leading to a viewing platform at the top of the tower.
We move on, heading towards the Trevi Fountain. It has been restored in the last year or so and looks simply stunning. The marble is gleaming white against a brilliant blue water background. It exceeds our expectations with its sheer beauty. The Fountain is huge and the water looks clear and cool. The crowds are very large all waiting to get a seat at the front by the water. It seems like all of Rome is here.
We spend a bit of time here and also manage to get a seat at the front for our photo opportunities. Donna and I both throw coins in the Fountain. I hope the legend is true and we do return to Rome and the Trevi Fountain – it’s just spectacular.
Reluctantly we leave the Trevi Fountain and continue walking. Next we are heading to the Capuchin Crypt. There is a small museum with historical religious artifacts from the Capuchin Friars history. The museum also contains one Caravaggio painting. The main display is the Crypt itself.
There are 5 or 6 Crypts on display and each crypt is lined with the skeletal remains of Capuchin Friars. There are human skulls and bones arranged into various ‘artistic’ forms and patterns. There are also complete skeletons clothed in robes, there are flowers made of scapula bones. The bones were taken, with permission, from the Friars graveyard. The crypts really are as macabre as they sound. They are fascinating nonetheless.
From the Crypts we head towards the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately the steps are undergoing restoration and are partially closed.
The steps lead to a church at the top (the Scalinata della Trinita) which had a ceremony in progress. The view from the top was also partially obstructed by the restoration.
At the bottom of the Spanish Steps is a fountain and square where quite a lot of people are congregated.
Finally we walk back to our apartment and pass by the designer shops on the way. That evening we go out to a local restaurant for another Italian dinner.
First impressions of Rome are very good. It is a lot more spread out than Florence and requires more walking between attractions. However walking through the old building architecture is a great pleasure.
May 28
Day 11 - Today is the Day!!
“What we do in life echoes in eternity” - Maximus from the movie Gladiator. This quote is one of my first thoughts as I wake up this morning.
Today is the Day I have been looking forward to the most for our entire trip. Today we go and visit the Colosseum. Not only that, we have also organised a night tour of the Colosseum as well. I can’t wait to get started.
We have our tickets to get into the Colosseum pre-booked and we plan to get there at opening time which is 9am. The walk to the Colosseum is about 25 minutes from our apartment. It’s a beautiful summer morning so it’s a great day for a walk.
As we walk to the Colosseum, we pass by the Victor Emmanuelle II monument built in honour of the first king of a unified Italy. It is also commonly referred to as ‘The Wedding Cake’. It doesn’t remind me of a wedding cake in any way, however to other people it does, hence its local name.
As we walk down the main road leading to the Colosseum, it starts to appear in view, which just makes you want to walk a little faster to get there to see it.
We get to the Colosseum at about 8:20am and find the line to get in. There are separate queues for those that have tickets and those that don’t. The line is already reasonably sizable for those that have tickets, like us. For those that don’t the queue is a lot longer even so early in the morning. Once the gates open it doesn’t take us too long to get inside. We pass through a security check and bag scan area before we are let through.
Once inside there are a couple of levels to explore, but first we head to the inside so we can see the arena section as well as get a view of the stands surrounding the arena. There has been so much said and written about the Colosseum that you can’t help but be awestruck by the sense of history and true majesty of this building.
The floor section of the arena has long gone so you can clearly see the underground passages through which the Gladiators, slaves and animals passed. There has been a section of flooring reconstructed to show what the Colosseum arena would have looked like when it was still intact. The stands surrounding the arena also help emphasize the size of the stadium. Some sections has fallen down over the centuries, however it is still well preserved.
We walk along both the ground level section as well as go upstairs and walk along the upper levels to get a better ‘birdseye’ view of the Colosseum. We take a ‘million’ photos to record our time spent at the Colosseum, though photos never do justice to something as wonderful as this.
I could spend all day here just wandering around, however we have little time in Rome and there are many other historic sites to see. We end up spending about 1.5 hours at the Colosseum before it is time to go.
Once outside the Colosseum we head towards the Roman Forum which is only a few hundred metres away. However first we stop to visit the Arch of Constantine, w hich is situated right next to the Colosseum. This is a triumphal arch dedicated to the Emperor Constantine and his battle victory over Maxentius. It is a beautiful marble arch that forms a striking picture when viewed next to the Colosseum.
We make our way to the Roman Forum and pass through the 200 year old Arch of Titus to get into the South-East entrance to the Forum.
The Forum is located between Palatine Hill and Capitol Hill. The Forum is much larger than we imagined. The site consists of ruins of important ancient government buildings and churches. For centuries the Forum was the centre of Roman public life.
The site also consists of ruins of gardens, pools and columns. We spend a fair amount of time here wandering the site and seeing the various ruins.
Next to the Forum is Palatine Hill. We walk up the steps and paths to get to the top of the Hill. The wealthy of Rome used to live on Palatine Hill and there are ruins of Palaces and other buildings. With Palatine Hill being next to the Forum, there is also a wonderful overall view of the Forum below.
After we have spent time admiring the view we head back down Palatine Hill. With the Forum on one side, the other side of Palatine Hill is Circus Maximus, so we walk over there to see this well-known site. Circus Maximus is an ancient chariot racing stadium, much larger than the Colosseum and could reportedly accommodate 150,000 – 200,000 people. The site itself is not well preserved and very little remains of the ancient stadium. At the South end are some ruins remain. Otherwise it’s a large grassy oval field surrounded by grassy banks. It’s a long way from its former glory. The ruins at the South end are gated to prevent anyone getting a closeup look, however the grassy field is open for anyone to wander through.
Past Circus Maximus we come to the Mouth of Truth, where legend has it that if you put your hand into the mouth and you are a person who does not speak the truth, then your hand will be bitten off. Donna and I were not game to give it a try! Actually there was quite a long queue of people waiting to put their hand in and get a photo taken, so we did not wait and join the queue. Instead we continued on our walk.
We are heading back in the direction of our apartment now and next we come to Capitol Hill. There is a large official looking building with monuments and a waterfall out front. However from atop Capitol Hill you also get a good view of the Roman Forum down below, and provides great photo opportunities. We stop for a little while to once again admire the ruins of the Roman Forum.
We also go past the Palatine museum on our way back. We stop at a restaurant on our way back for a late lunch, early dinner. Once again it is a pasta meal – what else! We get back to our apartment to catchup with news and rest for a while before we go out and join our night tour of the Colosseum.
In the evening we head towards Trajan’s Column, where we are to meet our tour guide and join the small group for the night tour of the Colosseum. The tour starts at about 8:30pm, which is good given it is summer and does not get dark until late.
As a group we make our way past a number of sites on our way to the Colosseum. We stop at the Palatine Museum which is lit up beautifully at night. We also spend some time at the imperial forums including the Caesar Forum. Finally we get to the Colosseum which is lit up gloriously at night.
We head inside and are visit areas we were not able to earlier in the day. We walk onto the reconstructed platform that covers part of the arena area over the underground passages.
We also go into the underground chambers. Here we see reconstructed hoist systems demonstrating how animals and people were raised up into the arena from below. We view other sections which give a great insight into how cramped it would have been to the hordes of people that would have been below the Colosseum in these underground passages. It wouldn’t have been a great place to be in those times.
The tour ends about 11:15pm and we walk back home. The streets are still very vibrant and busy with people, so it’s a nice walk back. What a way to spend a Saturday night!!
This has been a fantastic day and we have seen an incredible icon of world history. Not only that, we also saw the Colosseum at night to get a totally different perspective of this great stadium. A truly memorable day.
May 29
Day 12 - Taking A Bath...
Today certainly won't be as 'Epic' as yesterday - it's very hard to top the Colosseum. Nonetheless, there are more historic sites to see. We plan to see the Baths of Caracalla as well as a Pyramid!
This morning we walk to the Porta Portese street markets. They are only open on a Sunday.
The streets are lined with stalls selling mainly clothes, shoes, bags and some household goods. The markets are large and seem to go on and on. Some of the goods being sold are second hand but most are new. The quality of most goods looks low. Most of it looks like cheap junk made in China, so we don’t buy anything. We stop for breakfast/brunch at the markets.
Overall a fairly disappointing experience as you can get this cheap ‘junk’ anywhere.
Next stop is the Pyramid of Cestius. The Pyramid looks bright and new and gleams in the sunlight. It was actually built around 12bc. It was restored in 2015. We certainly didn’t expect to find a 2000 year old pyramid in Italy!
The Pyramid adjoins a really beautiful cemetary. This cemetary is a site for non-catholics to be buried. There are lovely rambling gardens surrounding the various burial sites.
This cemetery is also the burial site to the poet John Keats. A very restful environment.
Next we take a long walk to visit the Baths of Caracalla. The baths were built between 211 – 217 AD.
The excavated ruins are quite extensive but a shadow of what their original grandeur was believed to be. Archaeologists believe the site was once a magnificent 3 storey bath-house with hot and cold pools, saunas, gyms, gardens, sun beds etc.
The Baths were also viewed as a meeting place for the Roman population.
After the Baths we walk back in the general direction of our apartment but head towards the Tiber river to cross the bridge into the Trastavere neighbourhood. We explore the narrow streets of this area with all it’s shops, restaurants and homes.
We also visit the St. Cecelia Church along the way.
During our time in Venice, Florence and Rome we regularly walk past Public water taps that have a constant flow of fresh, cool water for anyone to stop and take a drink or fill their water bottle. There is no tap to turn them on and off, it is just a steady flow.
We eventually make our way back to our apartment where we rest up and go out for dinner that night.
It was certainly a quieter day than previous but the sites we visited were well spread out, so we did a lot of walking. Rome is certainly providing us with plenty of exercise and opportunity to keep fit. It’s a really great city also.
May 30
Day 13 - Religious education
Today will be a very heavy religious themed day. Today we visit the Vatican.
Once again we are up early, have a quick breakfast and set out on the 25-30 minute walk from our apartment to the Vatican museum. We walk past a very empty St. Peter’s Square on our way to the Museum. We probably won’t see it this empty again so take a few moments to soak up the view and the atmosphere.
We have booked an early morning tour of the Vatican. This tour gets you into the Vatican Museum before it’s public opening time of 9:00am. There are other tour groups also doing the same so we are definitely not on our own, however we get in before the real crowds begin. The Vatican is one of the most visited sites in Rome, so it is crowded every day, particularly in peak season.
Our tour guide is an English ex-school teacher who is very knowledgeable, passionate and enthusiastic. We start our 3 hour tour with the Vatican museum. When we first enter we go into a large courtyard which houses some of the Vatican's newer modern art work.
We make our way through large exhibitions of paintings, sculptures, frescoes etc. Many of these exhibits are priceless. There are also huge tapestries in one of the halls. With so many pieces and such a large museum we really only see some highlights. Our guide shows us the most important works of art, the famous and those that are her favourites.
We continue through the museum to make our way to the very famous Sistine Chapel which houses the Michelangelo painting on the ceiling as well as one wall in the chapel. The ceiling was painted in Fresco, so Michelangelo laid plaster each day to paint on. The ceiling took him 4 years to complete. The back wall of the Chapel also took Michelangelo 4 years to complete as well. The ceiling is stunning, as expected. The Chapel is adorned on all of its wall with other painting as well, all of which are considered masterpieces – they are simply overshadowed by Michelangelo’s work.
The last part of the tour is St. Peter’s Basilica. This Cathedral is enormous and is decorated extensively with statues and artwork including mosaic copies of paintings now in safe storage.
It has a large dome like many other Cathedrals, only this is larger and grander.
Our tour ends here and so we spend a little more time in the Basilica before we head out and spend some time in St. Peter’s Square.
Finally we leave and head for the train station about 1 km away. We plan to visit the Catacombs of Santa Domitilla. We have to change trains on the way and then walk 2kms to the site. I did say we were getting plenty of exercise in Rome! When we get there we find it is closed for lunch – this was unexpected. So we walk up the road a little further to a small café and have lunch while we wait for the re-opening.
We return on time and go into the Catacombs. A guide takes a small group down into the underground church and then into the adjoining Catacombs. We walk about 600m through the tunnels. The tunnels span several levels as well as many kilometres. You could easily get lost down here. The Catacombs comprise shelve like burial spaces along the walls of the tunnels. Some are open while others are sealed though the skeletal remains would have long ago decomposed. The tunnels are cool and damp. They are also fascinating to see.
We walk the 2kms back to the train station. The closest train station tour apartment is the Colosseo which is right outside the Colosseum. We get off there and of course spend a little more time looking at the Colosseum and taking some more photos. I have taken so many photos of the Colosseum by now.
We then walk the 1km or so back to our apartment. We have certainly walked many kms today.
After a break, shower and relaxing time, we go out for dinner at a local restaurant. On the way back we find some gelato, of course.
It’s just one great day after another on our Italian holiday and there is still more to go. I really love Rome.
May 31
Day 14 - Out Of Rome
Today we plan to take a trip to Ostia Antica, a site about an hour out of Rome towards the coast where ruins of a 2000 year old town are situated.
We head to the train station in the morning only to have our plans unexpectedly changed. We can’t get into the train station as it is closed. A helpful local informs us that there is a strike & the stations will re-open at 12:30pm.
We decide to wander the streets of Rome for a little bit and then head back to the apartment to catch up on news and other things – just have a bit of down time.
We do however to go back to the Trevi fountain again for another look. It is still early morning so the Trevi Fountain is fairly empty of people. This is great as we get more photo opportunities and this will be our last look at the Trevi Fountain. Perhaps the legends are correct – we threw coins in on our first visit and here we are again – we have returned!! The white marble on the Fountain is gleaming brilliantly in the morning sun. We also stop to get some breakfast and then return to our apartment.
We head out again to catch the 12:30 train, and this time head towards the Colosseo station which is right next to the Colosseum. Oh alright, we’ll take some more photos of the Colosseum!
On the way we pass by the Forum of Augustus as well as Trajan’s Market. There are many ruins that we pass on the walk to the Colosseo station.
The train tickets are cheap €1.50 for 100 minutes which is plenty of time to get to Ostia Antica.
The train tickets are bought at vending machines which conveniently have an ‘English’ option, so it is no hassle at all. The trains are fairly clean inside, but most trains seem to be heavily covered in graffiti on the outside.
We get to Ostia Antica station and take to 10 minute walk to the site of the ruins. We have a Rick Steve’s audio guide which we use to guide us through the site. The ruins cover a very large area, so we will not see everything. We stick to the highlights on the audio tour. The ruins are really well preserved and the site is not crowded at all, so you can move about at a leisurely pace. Donna, of course, noticed the field next to the site will plenty of freshly cut hay rolls. They would certainly feed the horses back home for quite some time. That’s Donna, always looking out for horse feed! We spend about 2.5 – 3 hours at the ruins before we head back. We need to change trains to get off at the Spagna train station and then take the 1km walk back to our apartment
That night we once again go out for a meal, and find a pasta restaurant – what else!, The waiter has been to Australia and is very friendly and we spent a fair bit of time comparing notes about Australia. It’s a nice evening. Of course, we finish it off with some gelato.
This is our the end of our final day in Rome. It has been an amazing experience. It’s so hard to pick a favourite between Venice, Florence and Rome. They are all beautiful cities with spectacular attractions, though Rome does have the Colosseum!!