Day 3. Rome sightseeing

Bonjiorno Rome!!!! We slept like the dead! No wonder after yesterday. I had some dreams about getting pick pocketed and Cory woke up during the night roasting and went and sat out on the terrace to cool down. The sun came up at about 630am, and it was beautiful! So peaceful and it felt very Roman!!!

Today was our day to see the whole of Rome! There was no way that was going to happen, but we wanted to have a good crack so we headed off very early to see the Colloseum. We caught the subway (metro) and when we got off at the train station, it was literally right there in front of us! Breathtaking. Being the savvy travellers we are, we pulled out our iphones and listened to the tour we had downloaded as an app. It gave the whole history of the Colloseum. The Romans were quite barbaric! During our self guided tour, Cory said he is really looking forward to seeing the movie "The Gladiator" after seeing where it all happened! One interesting tit bit was that they had to shower the arena with perfume because of the stench of blood from all the fighting! Not a pretty thought at all. 

Vittorio Emmanuelle monument.

From the Colloseum, there was an enormous amount of history and architectural brilliance which left our jaws on the floor. The view up to the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument - All of it was truly spectacular! We had not been in Rome for 24 hours when Cory said to me " Oh my God, I can't believe that I have left it for so long to come to Europe! At least I still have a few years left to see it!

We made a beeline for the Pantheon and stopped off at the basilica at plaza de Minnerva. The amount of decoration and opulence in this church was amazing. After this, and a little quiet time in the church pews, the pantheon was waiting for us just around the corner. Damian recently told me he could have spent an entire afternoon in the pantheon and I can understand why! It is one of the oldest and most momentous of Roman buildings and was built as a place of worship for all religions (provided the people fell under the monarch's rule). Lots of dome's around the world have been built around its architectural brilliance including those in St Peter's basilica and the Whitehouse in Washington (Thanks Rick Stein's audio tour). It is still used as a church for weddings etc.

The pntheon stunner!!!

We wandered the streets and found a lunch spot away from the crowds. It was nice to sit in the sun and relax a bit. The place we stopped at had super fast wifi, hence the videos from today I was able to upload! LOL. 

Naughty nuns late for church and locked out

The weather has been very kind to us, with 20 degree days. Not sure if I would care for Rome in summer when it is really hot and there are many many more crowds. We have not had to wait for anything, or queue up for any of the places. The busiest place was the trevvy fountain which we wandered to after lunch.  Cory's artistic side has kicked in again, and we stopped so he could take photos of everything!!!

Trevvy fountain

Deli Roma style

There was a special message waiting from Charlotte when we got back to the hotel! Thank you Charlotte for your video! It was so nice to see you and hear your voice!!! The sun was also setting and our little terrace was so nice to sit and watch the sunset! The last we will see over Rome!

We finished the day with a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine! Quiet and tired! Ready for another big snooze (fingers crossed)...