Exploring the beautiful city of Rome

I am finally home from a fantastic two weeks in Italy, but now I have some catching up to do. My last post was from our arrival in Rome, and unfortunately, I meant to hit the \”save\” button and instead hit the \”publish\” button. I apologize for the abruptness of the blog! I am now ready to finish telling you about the beautiful city of Rome and some of the highlights of our visit. We arrived late in the afternoon and spent the evening exploring close to our hotel, The Colonna Palace. Just around the corner was the Trevi Fountain.It was commissioned by Pope Clement XII in 1732 and completed in 1762. It features neptune riding on a chariot pulled by winged horses. Mary Jo and I did the typical tossing of the coin and making a wish. Let\’s see if my wish comes true.

We then stopped for dinner in a little side street cafe called L\’Archetta. To accomodate our group of 5, the waiter added a chair on the end of the table. I felt like I took my life in my hands as the cars and scooters were zipping by right behind me. Driving in Rome would not be my favorite thing to do.

We started our first full day in Rome exploring the Colosseum and the Forum. The Colosseum was magnificent in all it\’s ruined beauty. It was built in the year AD 80 and could hold 55,000 spectators to watch the gladiators brutalize each other in the combats that took place there. A portion of the Colosseum was destroyed in an earthquake in AD 847 and portions of the materials were removed and used to build St. Peter\’s

THE ROMAN FORUM

The Forum was to the Romans what a civic center is to us, but it was also a shopping center and a place to worship. The excavation did not really fully take place until the 19th century and since then the buildings, temples, art, and amazing architectural arches and artifacts that have been uncovered are truly a ruin of wonder. I can imagine the Romans going about their daily busy, hustling and bustling from building to building. I will attach a map of the Forum so you can get an idea of how it was set up.

Still to come, our visit to Vatican City, our walking food tour in Trastevere, and a visit to the park surrounding the Villa Borghese.