I recently returned from a four-day city break in Rome. It
was an amazing trip with lots of sightseeing and many pictures, part of which I
will be sharing with you on the blog. Let’s
start with the beginning:
Circus Maximus or Circo Massimo in Italian, an ancient Roman Chariot racing stadium, the first and
largest stadium in Ancient Rome and its later Empire. Unfortunately, very
little remains of the Circus, except for the grass-covered racing track and the
outline of the central barrier. Some of the starting gates remain, but most of
the seating has disappeared with the passing of time.
The Mouth of Truth or la Bocca della Verita, an image of a face carved in Pavonazzetto
marble, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The
most famous particularity of the Mouth is having been used as a lie detector starting with the Middle Ages.
It was believed that if someone told a
lie with his/her hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off.
Our third stop was at the National
Roman Museum or Museo Nazionale Romano, where we activated our Roma Passes
(which provide free access to public transportation in Rome for three days
since the moment of validation, plus free entry to the first two museums and/or
archaeological sites of your choice-all for the price of 30 euros).
We started our second day in Rome early in the morning, by
visiting the Colloseum or Coliseum (Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), an elliptical amphitheatre, the
largest ever built in the Roman Empire, considered one of the greatest works
of Roman architecture and engineering.
It was really impressive and crowded with tourists (I would recommend going as
early in the morning as possible, in order to capture a few shots without the
crowd in the background). This was our second and last objective visited with
Roma Pass, from here on out we were on our own, so to say. Next, we wanted to
see the Roman Forum (Il Foro Romano), but were quickly discouraged by the huge
queue and decided to change our plans.
We therefore walked to the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II (Monumento Nazionale a
Vittorio Emanuele II) , situated between Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline
Hill. The monument is controversial since its construction destroyed a
large area of the Capitoline Hill with a Medieval neighbourhood for its sake
and is disliked by the locals because its whiteness contrasts with the mostly
brownish buildings surrounding it.
Trajan's Column
Our journey continued on Via del
Corso, all the way to Piazza del Popolo, then to Piazza di Spagna with its
impressive steps and, of course, the Trevi Fountain (la Fontana di Trevi),
where the saying is that you have to throw a coin if you want to return to
Rome. Next was the Elephant (Il Elefantino), which we saw on our way to the
Pantleon. We couldn’t have missed Piazza Navona with the two fountains and the
Campo di Fiori.
Fontana di Trevi- a place crowded with tourists
Pantheon
Piazza Navona
Although we were already tired, we
walked to The Mausoleum of Hadrian, more popularly known as Castel Sant’ Angelo
and then headed to the nearest subway station, Lepanto, having a delicious
ice-cream (gelato) on the way. Be sure not to miss these delicious treats if
you travel to Rome, it would be a pitty.
The last stop for the day was the
Pyramid of Cestius (la Piramide), at the metro station with the same name.
After that, our hunger won us over and
we decided to head for a restaurant for dinner.
We started the third day of our
Rome adventure at the Saint Peter’s Basilica (Basilica San Pietro),the
well-known late Renaissance church
located within the Vatican City . We went all the way up in the Dome and I can
tell you that it was a unique experience and the view is unforgettable from up
there. It was worth the effort of
climbing all the over 500 spiral steps which were getting more and more narrow
as we were approaching the top.
The amazing view from the Dome
Having seen the San Pietro
Basilica, we could not have missed the Vatican Museums with their fascinating
Sistine Chapel.
The Sistine Chapel
I must confess that my personal
favorite ‘objective of the day’ was the Bioparco Zoo. I found it to be both
exciting and relaxing at the same time and enjoyed seeing all the
animals (very well taken care of). I loved the small monkeys exhibition, the European
bisons, the grey seals, the bears, the house of reptiles and the lions.
Our last stop for the day was the
mall- EuRoma 2, where we ate and made a little shopping. On day four we headed
back home, carrying a huge luggage of memories with us. Now I am looking forward to returning someday - after all, I did throw a coin into Fontana di Trevi.
Arrivederci, Roma, alla
prossima! (Good Bye, Rome, see you next time!)
