Rome Day 2

What an amazing day of sightseeing we had!  Our morning started with our tour guide, Franco and four other tourists on a personalized tour of the city.  Franco was great and drove us to all the main sights and we had a chance to get out and get closer looks at several!  It was a great way to get a feel for the city - it was a great morning!  We made stops at the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps...plus other less well-known areas.  We actually looked through a key hole in a huge door to see the perfect view of the dome of St. Peters Basilica!  Wow!!!

Here are a few pictures from the morning.  We went back to see several of these places later that day and throughout the week!

 

These are some of the Roman soldiers and gladiators around the Colosseum area...they offered to take our picture...for a small fee ;)
But how could we resist?

The area behind us is where chariot races used to take place and behind that is Palatine Hill.

 

This is the Pantheon.  We could not go inside at this visit as there was Mass, but we went back on another day...the inside is incredible!

Making our wishes at Trevi Fountain...










Following our morning tour and a stop for lunch, we set off on our own to wander through Palatine Hill and the Colosseum.  What a magnificent area of ruins...absolutely takes your breath away and leaves you speechless.  As we wandered around, I could almost imagine the people in the marketplace in their togas, gladiators preparing to fight in the Colosseum, people in the temples and gathering in the Forum...truly fascinating to see these ancient ruins with my own eyes!  I wish I could post all the pictures...if you want to see more, I did post a quite a few on my Facebook page :)  Here is just a tease...

This is a view across Palatine Hill - you could literally spend all day wandering through the ruins!

This is actually the inside of the Colosseum.  Below where the stage actually sat was a series of maze-like tunnels the gladiators used to enter and leave, animals were brought in, etc.

Maybe not the best picture I took, but just love the lines of the imposing structure of the Colosseum!










I also must mention, we stopped in every basilica we came across that had open doors and each was unique and magnificent with no two alike.  Many of them open into these huge open halls with super high ceilings with fresco painting and statues throughout.  Spencer and I both commented how it would be nice to know a bit more about the Catholic faith - we were in awe of the basilicas regardless.

Anyway, I think that is all for now...stay tuned, there is more to come :)