Rome

We spent 24 hours in Rome.  We know that many people think it is wonderful, and it may be, but our experience was that it was hot, crowded and dirty.  We saw the sights, ate some food and left.  I think it was the hardest place for us to get around.  Rick and I probably hit the wall in Rome.  It's amazing that we are still speaking.

I think the best part of Rome for us was the fountains.  They were extraordinary.  Rome has a lot of water from ancient times and they showed it off in their fountains.

The Colosseum is in the center of the city and a very interesting piece of archaeology and ruins.  We got there late in the day and bought an entry ticket from a scalper.  We saw the Colosseum with fewer people and were able to walk all around it. They are renovating, repairing or rebuilding portions of this massive structure. It is sad to me that they let things fall into ruin.  They have also built buildings all around the ancient structures with little regard to protecting these structures.  I guess when you are working with structures from 44 BC it's hard to do urban planning.

This is the Altar of the Fatherland (source: Google Maps), and the tour we were on said that it had several uses.  It's this huge structure on the Piazza Venetia in the old part of town and it is massive.  It's decorated with sculptures and columns. Fabulous to see. It sits on the end of a huge round-about where traffic is chaotic.

 

Rome has it's share of churches and monuments.  They are large and imposing and sit in the middle of streets and in round-abouts.

We saw the usual stuff...Spanish Steps and fountain, Piazza Navaro, drove by the Vatican, and the Trevi Fountain and lots of antiquities.

It was time to move on to the Amalfi Coast.