The first place I stopped was Sant' Andrea Delle Fratte, because I wanted to see Bernini's angels. Here's one of them:
Very beautiful as you can see. Then I went to Trevi fountain. This was my first day on foot for any distance and I was having a heck of a time finding the right streets. Most of the streets are very narrow and twisting, so you can't see for any distance. Then suddenly, there it was!
Following Rose's advice, I tossed in a coin to ensure my return to Rome some day.Then the adventure began! I have this map, MapEasy's guide to Rome, and it's a great map with a lot of cool stuff marked on it. Well in a spot about half way between Trevi Fountain and the Forum, there's a place marked "Stunningly beautiful building here! Don't miss it." Okay, you got me hooked! I walked around for an hour looking for this magnificent structure. Did I find it? NO! Unless someone has a very different idea of the word 'stunning'. And you can't very well ask directions to a place that's unnamed, so I missed that one.
What I did find was the Palazzo del Quirinale where the Italian President lives. So I sat in his front yard (the Piazza del Quirinale) and cursed the folks at MapEasy for sending me on a wild goose chase. In front of the president's 'house' were two guards with rifles. So I didn't curse too loud.
A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum; I landed at the Piazza Venezia in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument. They call it a monument, but it's about the size of a city block with all kinds of great statues attached to it! Here's a shot of one of the statues with some other cools stuff in the background.
Just down the street, I FINALLY got to my destination. What a jaw dropper!! Right there in the middle of the city, on either side of a main thoroughfare (actually wide enough for a couple of cars) were the ruins of ancient Rome!
I can no longer be surprised here! There are simply wonderful things around every corner. Again, I'm sharing some pictures that can in no way convey the awe I felt as I wandered through this area! Much of the stuff you can see for free. It's right there!! If you want to get real close, you have to get a ticket. It cost me only 12 eoros for the Forum, Palatine and the Colosseum. That's about $17. What a deal!Anyway, here's some of what I saw. This is Trajan's Market. More about that tomorrow, because I actually went inside there today.
Notice the yellowish structure in the upper right. There's an apartment building that butts right up against the back of it. Amazing!!This shot is from down in the Forum area:
This area is huge. What's really cool is to just stand in there and imagine what it all must have been like!
On Palatine Hill ar the ruins of what used to be the home of Augustus. This was a huge, multi-storied structure with a view like you cannot imagine! Here's a look at the Colosseum from up there:
Good old Augustus probably had someone to carry him up all of those steps!
After coming back down from Palatine, I went into the Colosseum. Here's a view from in there:
Time to run out and wrestle a lion!
Am I tired yet? You bet I am and I haven't even eaten! But there's on more thing on my list for the day. I need to find Michelangelo's Moses. It's pretty close by!
Here it is...
WOW!! I think I mentioned yesterday about the building it's in. Check this out:
Who would suspect that this building held such a priceless piece of art? After this, I finally ate at a little pizzaria around the corner, then took the metro home.
Between the heat and the steps, I was beat. There was quite a storm last night and today was much cooler. It started ou rainy, but cleared to a gorgeous day. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
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