Our Honeymoon: Rome

When I last left you on our honeymoon recaps, we just spent the day running from Pisa to Florence.  I like to think that that day was like a warm up for what we had in store for the next stop, Rome.
You know the saying Rome wasn’t built in a day.  I think it should be one can’t see Rome in a day.  But we sure as heck were going to try.
Since time was at a premium, we opted again to book a Rome in Limo tour.  This time our group was smaller, only 8 people, which actually worked in our favor.  Since we had a smaller group, we only needed a small van.  This allowed us to navigate more easily through Rome’s tiny streets and allowed our driver to drop us off right at the door of most of the attractions.  Even though we had a small group, our tour price was still very reasonable, 69 Euro ($96) per person.
Our driver picked us up at 8am portside so that we could try to skip some of the traffic (as if that’s truly possible in Rome).  Our ship docked in Civitavecchia (which I literally have to look up every single time I want to spell it) which is about 1 hour outside of Rome.

We arrived in Rome around 9am and headed straight over to the Circus Maximus area.   The picture above is an artist’s rendering because the area now looks like this…

Even though it’s just a big dirt oval, the history surrounding this spot make it infinitely interesting. 

The Circus Maximus was the first and largest entertainment venue in Ancient Rome, accommodating over 150,000 visitors.  Entertainment took the form of multi-day religious ceremonies and festivals, chariot racing, plays, and gladiator battles.
In the current day, the Circus Maximus fell into disrepair as the nearby Tiber River continued to flood the area.  Now the mainly open field is used for large concerts and gatherings in Rome, including the Live 8 concert in 2005. 
We continued onto another part of Ancient Rome, stopping next at Capitoline Hill to overlook Vatican City.
This was our first sighting of the Vatican and it left me with butterflies.  The entire reason that we booked our cruise was to visit Rome and the Vatican.  Seeing the steeple of St. Peter’s Basilica just made everything so real. 
We then moved down to the main focal point of Capitoline Hill, the Capitoline Museums, which surround Piazza del Campidoglio designed by Michelangelo. 



Directly past the Piazza is an overlook to the Roman Forum.  This is where I about peed my pants. 
For those of you unfamiliar with history, this is pretty much one of the end-all be-all locations for government dorks like me. 
The Forum was the center of Ancient Roman life, including temples, the Senate House, government buildings, memorials and statues.  Construction began on the area in the 7^th century B.C., when a sewer system that connected to a nearby building began draining the marshy wetland. 

Like many of parts of Rome, this area was dismantled during the Medieval ages, as people pillaged ancient artifacts for materials for which to build churches.  After centuries of trash dumping and heavy rainfall, the forum remained completely covered until it was finally excavated in the early 20^th century.
We didn’t have time to walk through the Forum but it was an amazing feeling being able to experience it from afar. 

 On the other side of the piazza, we walked down a few blocks to look at an Ancient Roman condo. 

Pretty cool that it’s underground. 
We then hopped back into the van and drove over to the National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II.   The monument was designed in 1885 to honor Italy’s first king but it wasn’t completed until 1935.
Its boxy shape in a city known for domes has caused this building to receive several less than flattering nicknames, including “wedding cake.” 
Our next stop was the Colosseum where our tour guide dropped us off for an hour of exploration.  Before we left for our cruise, Rome in Limo suggested that we purchase our tickets to the Colossuem online.  I highly recommend this because the line for tickets is outrageous.  

On our walk to the Colosseum, we walked by the Arch of Constantine, displayed above.  This monument was built in 312 to commemorate Constantine’s victory over Maxentius. 
A few yards past the Arch, we met the entrance to the Colosseum.  If you have an online ticket, you enter to the left and skip the entire crowd, an amazing time saver.  We walked right up to the ticket takers only to have our dreams dashed.  Apparently, the online ticket was supposed to have a bar code.  Somehow, when we loaded the page the bar code didn’t properly display so our tickets were printed without one. 
So even though we had tickets, we had to walk over to customer service to trade-in our tickets because they didn’t have a bar code (don’t make our same mistake make sure your ticket has a bar code before you leave).  I immediately started freaking out because we had 1 hour to tour the entire building and the customer service line was absurdly long.  After what seemed like forever, we were finally able to trade in our tickets.

This began our run through the Colosseum.  We had 30 minutes to cover the entire place.  Good thing we were still in shape from the wedding. 
We headed straight to the top to get a good overall view.  The Colosseum was constructed in 70 AD.  Throughout Roman times, the building was used for thousands of animal hunts and gladiator battles. 
The building has faced several catastrophic events that have wrecked havoc on its exterior.  In 1349, a severe earthquake caused the outside south wall to collapse.  Around the same time, the marble tile used to encase the building was pillaged for use in other buildings.  Additionally, the bronze clamps that held the travertine stones together were dug out of the walls, leaving the façade with numerous pockmarks. 
From the picture above, you can see the floor of the building called the hypogeum.  Back when the Colosseum was used, this area was covered up by plywood and sand to create the stage.  This allowed the hypogeum to serve as an underground tunnel underneath the stage that held gladiators and animals.


Despite the urban legend, Christians were not martyred in the Colosseum.  This rumor was started by Pope Benedict XIV in 1749 in attempts to make the Colosseum a sacred Christian site. 

The Colosseum also overlooks the Forum area, allowing for some amazing overhead shots. 

Having done a lap around the Colosseum, we headed outside for some exterior shots.  You can see the pockmarks created by the removal of the bronze clamps very vividly in these pictures.
We then hopped back into the van for a short ride over to the Pantheon. 
The Pantheon was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC as a temple to all gods of Ancient Rome and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD.

This is one of the most unique buildings in Rome because it features the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, complete with an oculus.  Originally, this building served as a temple to the many pagan Gods.  Later in 609 AD, the building was given to the then Pope who converted it into a Christian church. 
The inside of the church now serves as a tomb for many famous Italians including Raphael and several Kings. 

The only light in the church is provided by the 7 meter wide oculus at the top of the dome.   To prevent the dome from collapsing, the Romans intentionally thinned the dome walls as they moved from the bottom to the top.
When we finished at the Pantheon, we moved over to the famous Trevi Fountain.
I thought this was more of a tourist trap (and tourists do completely swarm this place) but honestly it was really breathtaking.

The fountain sits at the junction of three roads and marks the end of an aqueduct that supplied water to Ancient Rome. 
The central figure of the fountain is Neptune, the god of the sea, who sits in front of the Palazoo Poli (a Roman palace).

Neptune is being pulled in a chariot by two horses, one unruly and one tame, meant to symbolism the vacillating nature of the ocean. 

 You can still take a drink from a spigot on the very right-hand side of the fountain.  The water was very refreshing and cool, especially after a long day of running.
Once we were finished with the fountain, we were given 30 minutes free time for lunch before we headed over to Vatican City. 
Since I’ve already covered about a million tourist attractions, I thought that the Vatican deserved its own special post.  So come back tomorrow to see our adventures in the Holy City.
What You've Missed:MonacoPisa Florence
Up Next: The Vatican