Ruins, Ruins and More Ruins!

Friday, March 13th

Our plan for Friday was to visit the Ancient Centre of Rome. Our first stop was the Coliseum, which opened to the public in 80 A.D. (Just about as old as Cleveland Municipal Stadium was.) This was quite an impressive sight since the structure is just mammoth. Growing up hearing and learning about the animal and gladiator fights became very real; you could almost visualize 55,000 people enjoying a sunny afternoon of sports activities. (Once again we can tie this to the Browns, except people get killed – oh wait . . . never mind)

Inside the Coliseum
Rome, Italy

The Coliseum
Rome, Italy

We wandered through the Palatine, which had been the royal residence for Roman Emperors, on our way to the Forum. In the shadow of the Coliseum lies The Forum, which is what remains of ancient temples, arches and churches. We even had a chance to see the House of the Vestal Virgins. (It's neat to finally know what they are referring to in the song “Whiter Shade of Pale”.)

The Palatine
Rome, Italy

The Forum
Rome, Italy

The final piece to our day in Ancient Rome was the Pantheon. Built in 118 AD this temple (and church since the 600's) deceives the on looker by appearing to be a rectangular structure from the front, when in reality it is a perfect cylinder (equal in height and diameter) with a domed concrete roof. The temple is the burial place for many important people in Italian history – including Raphael and some Italian Monarchs.

The Pantheon
Rome, Italy

The Dome of the Pantheon
Rome, Italy

On our final afternoon in Rome we did lunch at a bustling restaurant, the description in our tour book said the service was efficient and boy were they serious. Customers were packed in like sardines and the wait staff was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The food was good, and inexpensive for a change (most of our meals in Italy were not cheap.) After lunch we wandered around Rome some more, exploring the little shops that peaked our interest. Finally we ended up back at the Trevi fountain for our afternoon gelato.