Rome (Italia Part IV)

Since our first trip to Rome was cut short, we knew what we still had left to see when we got back. Our mood was only slightly dampened when we got to our hotel and found that we were given the only room without a proper window (as I told Becca, one bad hotel out of the 5 we stayed in that week is not bad... at least there were no bed bugs!).

Since it was later in the day, we decided to stay close and headed over to the Pantheon. This dome was built around 125 A.D. and the fact that it is still standing has amazed architects for centuries. We also passed by the Temple of Hadrian, which was built in honor of Hadrian who took the Roman Empire to its furthest extent. In the 1800s, this row of columns was incorporated into a building that now houses the Stock Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce.











That night, we had a great Roman dinner at a restaurant near Piazza Navona. There, we met 2 really nice women from Pennsylvania who bought us Gelati after dinner (it just occurred to me that I haven't yet bragged about all of the gelati we ate... yummy). Before heading in for the night, we stopped at Campo di Fiori for a drink. During the day, Campo di Fiori is an outdoor food market, but at night, the bars around the square open up with outdoor seating where the youth of Rome go to drink.

The next morning I dragged Becca out of bed early so that we could try to beat the lines at the Colosseum. We found out that you if you go to the Forum first, you can buy both tickets and not wait on line at the Colosseum. We also decided to get the audio tour for the Forum, which I'm not sure I would recommend. We both found the audio tour directions VERY confusing (example "Now turn around. You will see two ancient stones..."-- if you did a full turn, you would see at least 4 sets of "two ancient stones").









So, 2+ hours and lots of sweat (it was pretty warm out) later, we exited the Forum and found out that we had to go back to the beginning to return the audio tours. We finally made it to the Colosseum mid-afternoon and had no problem getting in with our pre-purchased tickets. With no audio tour this time, we just followed the recommended path and took pictures to at least show that we made the effort to go there. With what little energy we had left, we went down to the Circus Maximus which was only half worth seeing-- it may have originally been where the chariot races were, but now it's just a park. We read later that all of the marble had been stolen in the past centuries to build other things.









After a short rest, we went for dinner in Trastavere, which is where we found the church that we went to for Easter Mass the next morning (left). Santa Maria in Trastavere has an interesting history - according to legend, on the day Christ was born a stream of pure oil flowed from the earth on the site of the church, signifying the coming of the grace of God. The column next to the altar that marks the spot has survived through the many renovations that were done since it was originally builts in the 3rd century. We didn't understand a word of the Easter Mass, and much to Becca's dismay, we didn't sing, but at least we went!

We left town early and stayed at a nice hotel near the airport. While that may sound lame, it was a nice calm ending to a long, but very fun, week. And now, back to Paris...