We landed in Rome at 9:30 Saturday morning and were picked up by the driver that Mom and Dad had scheduled. We knew we would have to push through that day and just try to stay awake until bed time, so we dropped our luggage off and headed to the Spanish Steps. There tons of people there and it was cool to see.
After the Spanish steps we headed to the Trevi Fountain. Last time we were in Rome David and I threw three coins into the fountain, ensuring we would return to Rome one day. That prediction came true for us, Tripp (when he was in Rome) and Dad, so Mom was sure to throw her coin in to make sure she comes back. David and I threw in another coin, so I guess there's another trip to Rome in our future someday. :)
After the Trevi fountain we walked over to the Pantheon, built in 124 A.D. The Pantheon is probably my favorite part of Rome. Raphael is buried there as well.
After an outside dinner near our hotel we turned in for the night to get ready for Sunday. On Sunday we started the day with a trip to the Catacombs. We went to the Catacombs of Priscilla, which are not the most visited ones, but Priscilla was a woman who left her home to early Christians as a place to bury their dead. There were 10 miles of tunnels and over 40,000 Christian graves. It was SO COOL. Also, by one wealthier person's grave we got to see the earliest known fresco of Mary with baby Jesus nursing. We also saw the earliest known depiction of the three wise men at another grave. There were no pictures inside the catacombs. After the catacombs we headed to the church at San Clemente, which was a 12th century church, built on a 4th century church, built on a 1st century pagan temple. There were no pictures there either, but we were able to walk in all three levels and see each part. Pretty amazing.
After San Clemente we headed to the Colloseum for our guided tour. Again I was amazed to be walking in something where so many people had died. You could even see the holding rooms for slaves, gladiators and animals under the floor. It's hard to imagine now, but almost the whole things was covered in marble at one time. Most of the marble has been taken out over the years and put in churches after Constantine ended the games and proclaimed Christianity as the national religion. Here are some pictures from the Colloseum.
After leaving the Colloseum the tour continued into the Roman Forum, where the Romans conducted all their business. The site is still under continued digging as they keep finding new ruins. We even got to walk on a road that predates Christ. Unbelievable.
We finished the tour on Palatine Hill, which is where the Royal families and rulers lived. The whole hill was once a massive mansion that even included a stadium for mock naval battles and horse races that could seat 10,000 people. We also saw what was once the dining room and our tour guide said it was where Caesar would entertain his guests, or poison them. :)
We finished off the day with a trip to another piazza to walk around and look at art. We also went and saw the Pantheon at night and the Trevi fountain.
That's all for now! Tomorrow or later today I'll blog the rest of Rome. Definitely one of the best parts of the trip, minus seeing all of the cool stuff, was deciding where to eat for every meal. Sometimes we had a plan or a specific destination, and other times we just picked something off the beaten path that looked good. The food was better than good. Delicious. I don't know how the Italians aren't just huge with all that pasta, but I sure did enjoy it!
No comments:
Post a Comment