To Piazza del Popolo

No sooner had we learnt how to get around than it was time to head home. Our hotel was centrally located and near to the Piazza del Popolo - for all our other trips out of the hotel we had made a right hand turn as we left the hotel. On our last morning we made a left hand turn and made our way to the Piazza del Popolo.

On our way there we saw this fun contraption. No room to argue with your co-driver if he wanted to go left and you wanted to go right - you would end up going around in ever decreasing circles! 

On the way to the Piazza we saw many Churches. The photo above and below are from the same Church.

I liked the light coming in through the window - "Have you seen the light?"

This Church was heavily decorated as are most of the Churches in Rome.

This picture was a bit creepy - "We're watching you!"

We arrived in the Piazza del Popolo. The Piazza is home to one of the oldest obelisks in Rome.

Executions used to take place here!

Between 1811 and 1823 four Egyptian-style lion fountains were added to the base of the obelisk.

Our Daughter with her teddy and the Other Half on one of the lions.

"Nicola (the teddy - which was mine as a child) has to see some of Rome!"

"Mum, these men are naked too. Why?"

The Police Station which is located on the Piazza. I liked the funny looking sentry box.

The view from the centre of the Piazza looking down the Via del Corso.

The two buildings, one each side of the road are, of course, Churches.

The photo above and below was taken from the same Church. I can't remember now if it was the one on the left or the one on the right. We entered both Churches but one of them was in the middle of a service and so we left as we had a plane to catch!

Wonderful artwork on the ceilings.

Back to the hotel where we summoned a taxi to take us to the Airport.

This was a wonderful short break.

The hotel was lovely, the food was excellent, the weather glorious and the sites fantastic! Oh, the company wasn't bad either!

Before we knew it we were back in Blighty. Back home to plenty of washing, ironing and other domestic chores! Back to reality!

Until next time.

June.

The Colosseum

This is the third posting today in an attempt to get myself up to date with my blog diary! You may be relieved to hear that there will only be one more post from Rome!

We were at the Colosseum which had been shut early for some unknown reason.

As our guidebook stated, "Here the imperial passion for bloody spectacle reached its peak of excess." Emperor Titus in AD 80 declared 100 days of celebratory games which involved the massacre of 5,000 wild beasts!

We walked lesuirely around the outside of the Colosseum as we were denied seeing the inside! There were some beautiful looking horses to take you for a ride in a carriage around Rome. There were also a number of street sellers selling gifts etc to the tourists. A Police car drove past and I have never seen anybody move so quickly as the street sellers did - they whistled a signal to each other before hastily throwing their wares into their bags and making a run for it!

I don't know where I stand on street sellers - I would imagine that most were immigrants and by selling on the street they are most unlikely to be paying any tax but then they are pretty self sufficient and don't go around begging. Yet, if I were a shop keeper selling gifts in Rome I wouldn't be too impressed!

Our Daughter relaxes outside the Colosseum.

We walked all the way round.

A rare photograph of me with Our Daughter - just to show that I really did go to Rome!

Another photo of the Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine - which marks the victory of the first Christian emperor over his rival emperor Maxentius.

Another view of the Arch.

We left the Colosseum and walked back to the hotel.

We passed some statues en route.

As we arrived back outside our hotel we heard some music and saw that a crowd had gathered nearby.

We went to check out what was happening and saw some street dancers.

They were very fit! Which was more than we were having dieted on Italian cusine and ice-cream!

To purge our guilt we had however walked everywhere!

There is one more post to do about our stay in Rome and that is our visit on the last day of our stay to Piazza del Popolo. This was very near to our hotel and for that reason we had kept it till last so that we could have a quick look around before catching a taxi to take us to the airport for our flight home.

We had a wonderful time in Rome and I would recommend it as a place to visit despite the greedy Centurians and the smelly river!

Until next time.

June.

On Our Way to The Colosseum

This is a continuation of our stay in Rome - see previous posts.

The following morning we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go and see the Colosseum.

We breakfasted at the hotel before looking at our map to decide upon the best route to take us to the Colosseum.

We decided that we would first of all go to Piazza Colonna to see the Column of Marcus Aurelius.

It was not leaning, honest! The Column stands 100 feet high and chronicles the scenes from two wars.

In the Piazza is this little fountain where this seagull cooled itself down.

It was swelteringly hot and we were persuaded despite it being nearly lunch-time to buy an ice-cream for Our Daughter.

It had to be chocolate flavour, of course!

After lunch we headed towards the Colosseum. Nearby there was another Column.

We came across some street art!

This one looks like a Banksy but is probably a fake. Is it a "Love Rat!"

We arrived at the Colosseum shortly after 2.00 p.m.

We stood outside the entrance with between 250 - 300 others. We stood there for 40 minutes before a man came along with a sign which proclaimed that the Colosseum was shut for the day!

This was all a bit disappointing especially as we had queued in the hot sunshine!

We weren't downhearted though as we could still walk around the outside to capture the magnificence of this building and sit outside and watch the world go by.

Until next time.

June.

Our Visit to the Roman Forum

Now I am seriously behind with my blog diary. I know I keep saying this but these photos were taken in mid April and it is now May! On my previous blog we were on our way to the Roman Forum - in this posting we have arrived at our destination!

It is absolutely amazing how much history there is in Rome. This photo was taken from the Forum and in the background you can see the Monument of Il Vittoriano. I showed you some photos from the top of the monument in a previous posting. Not too far away is the Colosseum!

Another photo of the Forum.

The above shows the Arch of Septimius Severus. It is astonishing that the Arch is in one piece and still standing.

There is another complete arch - the Arch of Titus. This photo was taken at the base of that arch and shows the Other Half and Our Daughter. I wonder how many millions of people have stood here.

The Other half and Our Daughter near the Temple of Saturn.

Another photo of the Forum - the three colomn structure is the Temple of Castor and Pollux. Further back you can see the Arch of Titus.

From the Forum's walls.

There was a building where a film was being shown and these images were inside. I think the building was something to do with Nero although I'm not sure.

This was on the ceiling of the same building as above.

From the Arch of Titus.

Our Daughter sat near the Arch of Titus.

Having wandered around the Forum and marvelled as to how much of the place could still be seen bearing in mind that the buildings are over 3,000 years old we made our way back to the hotel.

Having walked all day in the heat we were pretty shattered but a quick bath / shower had us back on our feet in no time and we once more made our way to the same restaurant where we had dined on our first night.

Until next time.

June.

The Dogs of Rome

This is a continuation of the last blog.

We all had ice-cream and revitalized and refreshed with a few extra pounds around the midriff we made our way towards the Roman Forum.

As we were on our way we stumbled across a lively market selling fruit and veg and fresh flowers.

This minature dachshund was being spoilt to bits - it was sitting in front of a small air conditioner and had the radio on!

Our Daughter in front of one of the flower stalls.

One of the stalls had this little van to move the produce around - it was very dinky! I imagine it is very useful around the narrow streets!

I just liked this "home made sign" advertising "home made food!"

I liked this artwork on the wall.

We then stumbled across this Alsation which clearly belonged to someone who lived on the streets. The dog looked well cared for. His owner didn't appear to be nearby so I quickly got my camera out and took a photo. The dog's owner then appeared as if out of nowhere and began berating me in German. I don't think he was German but he may have thought that we were German. He kept saying "Nein". The Other Half said "He wants you to take nine photographs!" I told him to be quiet or else he may get a bunch of fives from the man - we beat a hasty retreat! Had the man not been so aggressive I would have given him some money as I do feel sorry for people who have clearly fallen on hard times - maybe a quarrel with their families for one reason or another or lost their jobs, their homes etc. It is not an easy life living on the streets.

I liked the look of this colourful poster.

We walked towards the River Tiber thinking that it may be nice to have a walk near the River like we had in Paris, near the Seine and as we have often done in London, near the Thames. When we got to the River there was no way that we were going to be going anywhere near it - the smell was dreadful! It smelt like a urinal! There must have been some homeless people living there - perhaps the man with the dog, who knows. All I know is that the idea of a river walk was now over. Our thoughts quickly turned to moving away from the River and back to the more touristy areas.

We came across a tram. I didn't know that they had any in Rome!

As we made our way to the more popular areas we saw this lovely pooch sat in a shop doorway.

Nobody shouted at me this time!

Isn't that dog a little poser but so cute!

We then came across a building with many statues on it which didn't seem to be on our map.

It was a school / college of some description.

Our Daughter asked "Why are all the statues of naked men!" I had no answer!

A bust from the school / college referred to above.

By now our feet were aching and our tummies were rumbling so we found a lovely little cafe with tables outside and sat down for a light lunch. We had already planned to go back to the lovely restaurant that we found the first night for our evening meal.

As we were sat there a lady came with her dog and left him outside whilst she went into the cafe which also sold cakes and ice-creams.

The dog stood patiently outside waiting for its owner. Our Dog would have been around all the tables in the cafe trying to get some attention and some food!

Until next time.

June.