Forum, Colosseum

Thursday morning we decided to visit the Pantheon in the day, we had seen it Wednesday night on the way to dinner. The columns outside are very impressive and the inside isn't to shabby either. The tomb of Raphael is here. The ceiling has a hole in it, open to the elements and yet the floor is clean and dry. This surprised me.

After the Pantheon, we decided to visit the Capitol area so we headed first to the Piazza del Campidoglio. Here there is a replica of a statue of Marcus Aurelius. There were a lot of people and some police, even some reporters. It seems everywhere we go there is always something happening. We were able to buy tickets to the Capitoline Museums (Palazzo Nuovo & Palazzo dei Conservatori) without a wait in line and walked right in. The guide book was confusing because it explained the museums as separate but with one ticket, but to us it seemed it was really just one museum connected underground.

Both museums have great pieces, the sculptures are a must see. There were some school groups, which made for some teenager annoyances but for the most part we were able to walk through slowly and could take pictures without anyone in the shots. It was very peaceful here compared to the streets outside. From the underground level, you can take stairs up to a panoramic view of the Forum and from here, get a great glimpse of the Colosseum through the Forum ruins.

When we were walking around the Palazzo dei Conservatori, we finally found were the crowd of people had gone. It turns out there was a meeting/presentation on something called 'Run for Food.' The attendees didn't look like runners to me but they did get t-shirts at the meeting. Alan guessed that they were organizers.

From here we headed out in search of food and found some lovely pizza (mmm... pepperoni and cheese with a spiced tomato sauce) at a small cafe near the museum. It was quiet inside, several locals, and in the streets children seemed to be getting out of school. One kid stopped in for a slice rather than play in the street. He ate his slice in the blink of an eye and was gone before I knew it.

Rejuvenated and ready for more walking, we headed to the Forum. The line was not long and tickets in hand, we explored the west end first. We really liked the ruins of the Temple of Vespasian (3 columns survived) and the Temple of Saturn (8 columns survived, remains from around 42 BC).

After a look at the Temple of Julius Caesar, we started our walk of the east end of the Forum. Here you have several ruins that have been renovated and are now churches. The remains of the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius really show the grand scale these buildings. You can walk into what would have been the basilica and sitting there can see the huge halls and walkways. The gilded tiles and marble ceiling ornamentation had all been recycled by popes long ago.

The ticket you buy to get into the Forum also gets you into the Colosseum and the Palatine so we headed to the Colosseum. Here, having the ticket helped as we breezed past the line, even the Roma Pass line was long! There are signs that tell you a good route for walking. You get to see part of the Emperor's box, some seats, and the area under what would have been the floor. The area under the floor is said to be where the animals were housed.

The construction and layout of the Colosseum makes it a very interesting building. There were so many entrances. The entrances were numbered 1-80 and everything was so organized (by class and gender) it is said that if you arrived at the Forum for an event you could reach your seat in less than 10 minutes. Now, there is only one entrance and one exit and it takes forever to get in and out. :)

From the Colosseum you can walk across the way and to the left to enter the Palatine. This might be a good entrance to buy a ticket to see everything if you come at the right time because there was no line. There is also less people in general in this area. You can meander and view Augustus' house and the Farnese Gardens. Augustus is said to have lived a simple life and his house was really modest. His succesors did not follow suite though. They built palaces. The gardens are not original but still contain an interesting assortment of plants, including a prickly pear cactus.

After the full day of walking, we decided to catch the metro and head back to the apartment. The first metro was packed to the gills. The second metro was quiet and less crowded. When we got back to the Trevi Fountain, Alan ran to get the computer so we could get internet at the corner cafe. They have 'free' wireless but you have to go into the restaurant and get the password. We just asked for a mixed salad and a hot chocolate to share because we didn't want to eat a lot. They gave us the password for the wireless and a fantastic salad. It was very fresh. We managed to get all caught up on posts while we sat and ate the salad. Alan then ran the computer back to the apartment while I waited and then we headed to dinner.

I had noticed a wood-fired oven in a restaurant on one of our walks and had wanted to eat there so we finally did eat there. Alan had a sausage pizza and I had the spaghetti alla carbonara. Both were very tasty. The pizza was closer to the kind we are used to, round and thin. Most other pizza here is square and a touch thicker.

Friday, we go in search of a bombe calde (a warm donut) and some more fun sites.