ROME!!!!!!!
Rome was amazing. I've always said my favourite city was Paris, but I think Rome now tops that list. The thing about Rome is that everything there is old, and picturesque and the architecture is amazing. You could just wander through the streets all day and check out the city. I loved imagining what it would have been like back in the day. We stayed at the Hotel Amalia near the Vatican and it was really nice. It had continental breakfast included and seriously they had the BEST brioches I've tasted so far! We flew down on an Easyjet flight out of Malpensa because it was actually cheaper than all of us taking the train. Even when you factored in parking.
So if you ever get the chance.......GO TO ROME!!!! I highly highly highly recommend it!!!!
Ok...now to put some commentary on my pictures
Roman Architecture
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument
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Augustus Forum Ruins- they were so cool. I would have loved to have climbed down into them and explored for hours!
Ruins of the Temple of Mars in the same Augustus Forum
Artistic picture of the Roman trees, they were exactly how I'd pictured them to be in books, and how they've been portrayed in movies!!!
This picture is just showing that those doors and windows opened out onto the ruins!! How cool is that!?!?!!
More ruins, right in the middle of the city
Vittorio Emanuelle II Monument
Tomb of the Lost Soldier
More artsy shots of the man himself on the horse
The statues there are almost always naked, or scantily clad and usually in some sort of compromising position. I'm surprised that most of them made it past the Vatican's early days where they ruined all sorts of art like this.
The upper balcony of the monument
The angel on top of one of the columns on the monument.
The architecture of the monument and a look at what kind of weather we had :)
The carvings in the marble were amazing, I can't imagine how long this would have taken!
And just to show you how intricate the romans were, here is some of their attention to detail :)
Really cool old fresco outside the ruins of a church near the monument
A statue of Romulus and Remus- the twin brothers who are supposedly the founders of Rome. Their uncle cast them out and they were found and raised by a she-wolf. Or....so the legend says!!!
The next few are of the Roman Ruins
A map showing the Roman empire
I just liked this picture, it seemed very Roman to me!!!
This was the highlight of my trip....THE COLOSSEUM
Hanging out with a Roman Legion. His tattoos say "VSQVE AD FINEM"(VSQVE to the end) and "SI VIS PACEM PARA... BELLUM" (If you wish for peace, prepare for war)
Looking up one of the hallways and into the arena
You would think this would be common sense.....
The underbelly of the arena area, where the animals, props and gladiators would have been kept.
The inside, the stage shows where they would have had the arena once upon a time, and it would have been covered with sand for the shows.
The pictures don't do it justice, it really was AMAZING!!!!!
The masonry on the upper level of the building. How amazing that it has lasted this long!
One of the cats of Rome. Apparently there are over 3000 feral cats that they think have descended from "ancient Rome" they live in and around the ruins and are now protected by the government and citizens of Rome!! There are entire calenders devoted to them!!!!
Down at the bottom of the colosseum, in modern times this would be where you get your beer and nachos!!!!! Apparently there were prostitute houses just outside of these columns!
The Roman Forum
There were a LOT of tourists, everywhere!!!!
check out this mosaic....crazy!!!
Flipping a coin into what we thought was the Trevi Fountain...turned out to be the Triton fountain!! hahaha
The Triton fountain
And now we get to the Trevi Fountain, it was insanely busy there!!!!!!!
The Pantheon- it was unreal on the inside. It had Vittorio Emanuelle's tomb and Raphael's tomb,the artist not the ninja turtle :)
Fresco of the madonna and child in the piazza outside the pantheon
The Piazza Navone. It was really amazing, had artists all over the place. Kind of like montmartre in Paris, but better!!!!We had gelato and espresso just up one of the little streets leading out of the piazza. I also bought jewellery of this really old guy who was making it at his little stall in the streets. I saw it the first day when we wandered through and when we came back past it the second day I bought three rings and a bracelet!! If I see him next time I go I'm having a necklace :)
The Four Rivers Statue in the middle of the Piazza Navone
And again from a different angle
I just really liked this shot. The red door, the textures on the buildings...the steps and the greenery. I want to live behind that red door!!!
An example of the streets that we were walking down.
The locks of Love
Apparently this started when young Roman military men went off to war, they put a lock on this bridge as a way of saying that they would be back. Somehow this evolved into people putting locks with their initials on the bridge and throwing the key into the Tiber River below, this was supposed to express the couple's eternal love for each other. Apparently its now become a tourist thing and thousands of locks have to be removed each year, kind of takes the romance and meaning out of it doesn't it!!! Makes for a cool picture though.
The Vatican
The Pope's Balcony. I kept hoping he would come out and invite me in for tea...but alas, he did not :(
Reese hugging a cement pillar outside the Pope's House :)
Carvings on the wall at the Vatican
This is a TILE MOSAIC!!!! can you IMAGINE how long this would have taken!?!?!
This is the Ara Pacis- The Peace Monument, it was built for Augustus Caeser to celebrate him bringing peace to Rome.
The Ara Pacis
The skyline is FULL of church domes here!
Rome
The gardens just above the Spanish steps
An artsy shot :)
Reese sitting on the sidewalk in that park!!!
Piazza Popolo
Statues in the Piazza Popolo. That is supposed to be Rome in the middle flanked by Tiber and Aniene
The Obelisk in the middle of the piazza, it has egyptian lions as fountains at its base.
Us being the statues, of course!! Richard is being Rome...and I'm trying to be Tiber...or maybe Aniene!?!?!
The Fountain of Neptune
Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso- Seriously the most BEAUTIFUL church I have EVER been into!!!!
Roman Streets
Castello St.Angelo
So if you ever get the chance.......GO TO ROME!!!! I highly highly highly recommend it!!!!
Ok...now to put some commentary on my pictures
Roman Architecture
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument
\Augustus Forum Ruins- they were so cool. I would have loved to have climbed down into them and explored for hours!
Ruins of the Temple of Mars in the same Augustus Forum
Artistic picture of the Roman trees, they were exactly how I'd pictured them to be in books, and how they've been portrayed in movies!!!
This picture is just showing that those doors and windows opened out onto the ruins!! How cool is that!?!?!!
More ruins, right in the middle of the city
Vittorio Emanuelle II Monument
Tomb of the Lost Soldier
More artsy shots of the man himself on the horse
The statues there are almost always naked, or scantily clad and usually in some sort of compromising position. I'm surprised that most of them made it past the Vatican's early days where they ruined all sorts of art like this.
The upper balcony of the monument
The angel on top of one of the columns on the monument.
The architecture of the monument and a look at what kind of weather we had :)
The carvings in the marble were amazing, I can't imagine how long this would have taken!
And just to show you how intricate the romans were, here is some of their attention to detail :)
Really cool old fresco outside the ruins of a church near the monument
A statue of Romulus and Remus- the twin brothers who are supposedly the founders of Rome. Their uncle cast them out and they were found and raised by a she-wolf. Or....so the legend says!!!
The next few are of the Roman Ruins
A map showing the Roman empire
I just liked this picture, it seemed very Roman to me!!!
This was the highlight of my trip....THE COLOSSEUM
Hanging out with a Roman Legion. His tattoos say "VSQVE AD FINEM"(VSQVE to the end) and "SI VIS PACEM PARA... BELLUM" (If you wish for peace, prepare for war)
Looking up one of the hallways and into the arena
You would think this would be common sense.....
The underbelly of the arena area, where the animals, props and gladiators would have been kept.
The inside, the stage shows where they would have had the arena once upon a time, and it would have been covered with sand for the shows.
The pictures don't do it justice, it really was AMAZING!!!!!
The masonry on the upper level of the building. How amazing that it has lasted this long!
One of the cats of Rome. Apparently there are over 3000 feral cats that they think have descended from "ancient Rome" they live in and around the ruins and are now protected by the government and citizens of Rome!! There are entire calenders devoted to them!!!!
Down at the bottom of the colosseum, in modern times this would be where you get your beer and nachos!!!!! Apparently there were prostitute houses just outside of these columns!
The Roman Forum
There were a LOT of tourists, everywhere!!!!
check out this mosaic....crazy!!!
Flipping a coin into what we thought was the Trevi Fountain...turned out to be the Triton fountain!! hahaha
The Triton fountain
And now we get to the Trevi Fountain, it was insanely busy there!!!!!!!
The Pantheon- it was unreal on the inside. It had Vittorio Emanuelle's tomb and Raphael's tomb,the artist not the ninja turtle :)
Fresco of the madonna and child in the piazza outside the pantheon
The Piazza Navone. It was really amazing, had artists all over the place. Kind of like montmartre in Paris, but better!!!!We had gelato and espresso just up one of the little streets leading out of the piazza. I also bought jewellery of this really old guy who was making it at his little stall in the streets. I saw it the first day when we wandered through and when we came back past it the second day I bought three rings and a bracelet!! If I see him next time I go I'm having a necklace :)
The Four Rivers Statue in the middle of the Piazza Navone
And again from a different angle
I just really liked this shot. The red door, the textures on the buildings...the steps and the greenery. I want to live behind that red door!!!
An example of the streets that we were walking down.
The locks of Love
Apparently this started when young Roman military men went off to war, they put a lock on this bridge as a way of saying that they would be back. Somehow this evolved into people putting locks with their initials on the bridge and throwing the key into the Tiber River below, this was supposed to express the couple's eternal love for each other. Apparently its now become a tourist thing and thousands of locks have to be removed each year, kind of takes the romance and meaning out of it doesn't it!!! Makes for a cool picture though.
The Vatican
The Pope's Balcony. I kept hoping he would come out and invite me in for tea...but alas, he did not :(
Reese hugging a cement pillar outside the Pope's House :)
Carvings on the wall at the Vatican
This is a TILE MOSAIC!!!! can you IMAGINE how long this would have taken!?!?!
This is the Ara Pacis- The Peace Monument, it was built for Augustus Caeser to celebrate him bringing peace to Rome.
The Ara Pacis
The skyline is FULL of church domes here!
Rome
The gardens just above the Spanish steps
An artsy shot :)
Reese sitting on the sidewalk in that park!!!
Piazza Popolo
Statues in the Piazza Popolo. That is supposed to be Rome in the middle flanked by Tiber and Aniene
The Obelisk in the middle of the piazza, it has egyptian lions as fountains at its base.
Us being the statues, of course!! Richard is being Rome...and I'm trying to be Tiber...or maybe Aniene!?!?!
The Fountain of Neptune
Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso- Seriously the most BEAUTIFUL church I have EVER been into!!!!
Roman Streets
Castello St.Angelo
3 comments:
The pictures are outstanding Rachel, I really hope we can go to Rome when I am there next year, it looks so beautiful
There is so much I want to say about your wonderful pictures. They are so much more than simply photographs, such detail, and grandeur. Amazing!! I'm not sure what technique you used on the images below the caption 'Rome' but the shots are fantastic. You've convinced me we need to include Itlay into our prospective travel plans.
YAYYYYY SARAH!!!!!!!!!
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