April 28, 2011
Wow! This week has flown by! We have spent the last three days in Rome, leaving early and arriving home late. Dinner at 9pm and breakfast at 7am! We have discovered a cheaper way to get into Rome: we drive a half hour and then take a commuter train the last half hour in. Plus, the trains run more regularly the closer in you are... pretty good for when you aren't sure you understand the train scheules...

So far, Rome is my favorite city of the three we have visited on this trip (London, Paris and Rome). It is so wonderfully chaotic and just crammed with monuments and fountains and ruins and massive, impressive buildings! It seems like everything is grand and impressive in Rome! Also, it is just packed with people! And cars, and scooters, and bikes, and motorcycles and buses! It is a beautiful chaos!

Let me tell you what we have seen. On Tuesday we headed for the Colosseum, which was very cool. The 2000 year old ruins were exactly what we expected, but we were pleasantly surprised to come across an exhibit of artifacts that were discovered from before the fire of 64 AD - you remember the story of Rome burning while Nero played the violin from his window - or something like that. He had the whole area leveled after the fire and built the Colosseum, not to mention a grand palace! There are several areas at the Colosseum and at the nearby Forum and Palatine Hill that are roped off and are currently being "uncovered"! You can peer over the barriers and see the archeological sites! Very cool!

At  the Colosseum

Colosseum

After that we headed out to find the Pantheon, the only ancient building in Rome that has been used continuously since it's construction. It's interior is the best preserved of the ancient buildings and really gives you a feeling for the height of Rome's splendor. One piece, granite columns shipped from Egypt, original bronze doors and then there is the dome! We watched a "Drive Through History" episode on Rome that really helped us appreciate the dome!

Pantheon

Dome of the Pantheon

Granite columns in front of Pantheon

Gelato!

After finding the BEST gelato shop in all of Rome, we headed to the Trevi Fountain to toss in our coins. It was noisy and crowded, so we didn't stay too long. That seemed like a full day to us, so we headed back to the maze of Metro and trains and into the peaceful Italian countryside where we spend our evenings.

Tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure a return trip to Rome



Fountain in front of the Pantheon

 Wednesday we returned to tour the ancient sites of the Forum and Palatine Hill. We were all eager to see the Arch of Titus, built by Jewish captives to commemorate Rome's victory over Judaea (the Jewish slaves also built the Colosseum). The site where Julius Caesar's body was cremated is there, heaped with fresh flowers, and the lovely courtyard of the house of The Vestal Virgins.

Arch of Titus

Caesar's cremation site covered with flowers

Et tu, Brutus?

Courtyard of the House of the Vestal Virgins

Afterwards we headed to the Cappuccin Crypt, a spooky site decorated with the bones of 4,000 Franciscan Monks. The dirt in the crypt was brought all the way from Jerusalem 400 years ago and the monastic message on the wall reads "We were what you are...you will become what we are now". Shhh, we told Daisy they were plastic! We couldn't take pictures, so I will have to show you my postcards when we get home!
Today we headed to Vatican City. If you recieve a postcard from us from Italy, it was mailed today using Vatican City stamps and mailed from it's post office. We walked through St. Peter's Basillica, the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. We saw so much today, it is hard to think of what to tell you. We couldn't take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, but it was lovely. Wish I could have removed the thousand or so tourists and shushing guards, laid a quilt on the floor and had a good look! Even with an aching neck and packed in like sardines, it was amazing. St. Peter's was gigantic! And wild to think we were where Peter was crucified. The artwork was beautiful - I have told the kids we will be trying our hand at mosaics this summer. Michelangelo's Pieta and Bernini's altar and seven-story dome and a mosaic version of Raphael's 'Transfiguration" were some of the note-worthy art in the basillica.

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica was gigantic!

Dome at St. Peter's Basilica

Tons of people lined up to rub St. Peter's toe - it was rubbed right off!

Miles and miles on hard marble floors! We are tuckered out! We were home tonight nice and early, had a great dinner and we will sleep in tomorrow. There is a little town we want to explore in the afternoon and then we get ready to head north to our next rental outside of Florence on Saturday morning. We plan to stop in Assisi on the way - Stay tuned!




We want this puppy! She was outside the Basilica while we were in line - sooooo cute!