Heart of Rome

The final day of our trip was spent exploring the Roman ruins located in the city of Rome. Naturally,  first on the list was the Colosseum!

It’s just as impressive as you can imagine- standing at the bottom, you can almost imagine what the gladiators must have felt like while walking out onto the sand!

The view from the stands is pretty spectacular too!

From the Colosseum you also have a great view of the Arch of Constantine

And the ruins of the temple to Venus

Next, Mom and I walked up the Palatine Hill, once home to the Imperial Palace and the emporers of Rome

From there it was a quick walk down to the Forum, the epicenter of the Roman Empire.  For me, it was particularly cool to be there- less than a year ago I was standing on Hadrian’s Wall, the end of the empire, and now I was standing in its very heart!

The Forum itself is massive -it starts at one end at the Arch of Titus:

It continues along the Sacra Via (the road down which Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, and so many more paraded down!) and ends in a vast open area full of temples and monuments.

It’s home to the Basilica of Constantine, a hall of justice which inspired early Christians to model the great churches after.

There are numerous temples, from Castor and Pollex to Julius Caesar.

The most sacred spot in the Roman Empire was located here: the temple of the Vestal Virgins.

The building where the Roman Senate met is still there- now it houses some beautiful frescos!

The forum ends at the Capoline Hill (where we get the word capitol from) and the temple to Saturn where the treasury of Rome was once housed.

Our final stop in Italy and for this entire trip was the Pantheon.

As a final splurge, we enjoyed some amazingly good gelato while gazing upon Roman architecture- all in all, a perfect way to end the trip!

It’s hard to believe the trip is over- we went through eight airports, stayed in dozens of hotels, and logged countless miles. It was a once in a life time trip and I had the best of company the whole time- my mom!  Thanks for following along on our grand adventure!

This Was Pompeii

Day two in Rome was not actually in Rome, as we spent the day in the AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING archeological site that is Pompeii!!! Note for this post: there will be a lot of pictures of ancient buildings and very few people pictures. I apologize for nothing! :D We rode the Metro very early that morning to the Piazza de Popalo. The Piazza itself has historical significance, as for centuries (starting during the Roman period!) it was a main entrance into the city. It now holds a giant obelisk, two fountains, some weird lion statues, and pigeons. J

We met up with our group and started driving to our first stop: the infamous Mount Vesuvius.

Our guide had told us that the trail up the volcano was only steep for a little bit. She lied.

Imagine this, for 30 minutes with no lessening of the incline, in the sun, and in my case, with a cold picked up in Florence. Yeah. Thank goodness for our shade umbrellas and water bottles! However, it was totally worth it! Not only did we have great views of the bay of Naples:

But we also got to peer into the caldera of the great volcano itself!

After descending the mountain and having a quick lunch, we arrived at a place I’ve been dreaming of for YEARS- Pompeii!

We had a wonderful guide to take us through the city’s sights, including gladiator barracks

Residential areas

Amphitheaters which are still used to this day

Ancient Roman graffiti

Walked the streets (wagon wheel ruts still visible!)

Bakeries with perfectly preserved ovens (fun fact: when this portion of the site was excavated, bread was found in the ovens!)

Great examples of Roman plumbing and roadwork

Bathhouses with perfectly preserved frescoes

Walked the ancient red light district

Saw still functional fountains

The temple and forum of the city

And, of course, the famous plaster casts of those who died during the eruption in 79 AD.

One last picture: a statue from the temple to Apollo with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

All in all, the site was extremely interesting, and a dream come true for me!!!! If you ever find yourself in Italy, I heartily recommend you go see it for yourself!