Our trip now took us to the Italian Capital of Rome. We had left Prague and trained across to Vienna where we caught our second and last night train for the trip.
Arriving in Rome we were finally welcomed by warmer weather. We hit the streets with a map and set out to see the sights of Rome. First stop the Spanish Steps, built by the French in 1723-1725 to link the Trinita dei Montichurch with the Piazza di Spagna.
There are many hawkers that hang around the tourist attractions and as we discovered at the Spanish Steps the are very pushy. Jess has never been offered so many roses in one day, and was able to test out her best Italian No. Chris not being the romantic did not buy any roses!
After the Spanish Steps we walked down to Piazza del Popolo and had some traditional Italian food, which was a nice change from potatoes in many forms.
Behind the Piazza del Popolo lies the Villa Borghese, a large garden area. We did not realise until later that we had not actually made it to the Villa Borghese but fell short at the Pincio. Here we hired a Segway each and road around the park after much convincing by Chris. We tested our Segway riding skills, unfortunately Jess had a mishap, she is still in one piece but has the bruise to prove her fall.
Next stop was the Trevi Fountain, and as all tourists do we threw some coins into the fountain (aussie dollars for those playing at home), however we later discovered after overhearing a tourist guide, we believe that we did not throw the money in the correct way, which is left hand over right arm.
As the Pantheon was close we headed straight there after visiting the Trevi Fountain. The Pantheon is the worlds largest non-reinforced concrete dome that was built in AD 118-125 by Emperor Hadrian. When Michelangelo was asked to build the St Peters Basilica it was requested that the dome be bigger than the Pantheon however to much disgust by Pope Julius II he made it 1.5metres less wide than the Pantheon.
After a long day looking at sights we sat down for dinner at a restaurant in Piazza Navona square.
Day two in Rome, we jumped back in our DeLorean and headed for the famous Colosseum.
The Colosseum was built in AD 72-80 and is the largest ever built amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. It was used for gladiatorial contests, mock battles and animal hunts and is said to have held up to 50,000 spectators. It ceased as an entertainment venue in the medieval era.
Given the magnitude in size of this structure we surprised ourselves in only spending 2 hours at the site, however we could have spent a little more time there. You can just imagine the roar of the crowd as two warriors fight it out until the death.
Next stop was Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, home to the Roman leaders opulent homes, such as Augustus, all of which now are ruins. There is still a fair amount of excavating going on around the ruins and many areas are roped off given the stability of the structures.
To finish off the day we visited a few more places, the Victor Emmanuel II Monument and the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus was once used as an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium, sadly it has been reduced to a dust bowl. We reckon that that Romans should turn it into a sports complex with running track and stadium mimicking the ancient layout or refurbish it back to its original grandeur.
Arriving in Rome we were finally welcomed by warmer weather. We hit the streets with a map and set out to see the sights of Rome. First stop the Spanish Steps, built by the French in 1723-1725 to link the Trinita dei Montichurch with the Piazza di Spagna.
There are many hawkers that hang around the tourist attractions and as we discovered at the Spanish Steps the are very pushy. Jess has never been offered so many roses in one day, and was able to test out her best Italian No. Chris not being the romantic did not buy any roses!
After the Spanish Steps we walked down to Piazza del Popolo and had some traditional Italian food, which was a nice change from potatoes in many forms.
Behind the Piazza del Popolo lies the Villa Borghese, a large garden area. We did not realise until later that we had not actually made it to the Villa Borghese but fell short at the Pincio. Here we hired a Segway each and road around the park after much convincing by Chris. We tested our Segway riding skills, unfortunately Jess had a mishap, she is still in one piece but has the bruise to prove her fall.
Next stop was the Trevi Fountain, and as all tourists do we threw some coins into the fountain (aussie dollars for those playing at home), however we later discovered after overhearing a tourist guide, we believe that we did not throw the money in the correct way, which is left hand over right arm.
As the Pantheon was close we headed straight there after visiting the Trevi Fountain. The Pantheon is the worlds largest non-reinforced concrete dome that was built in AD 118-125 by Emperor Hadrian. When Michelangelo was asked to build the St Peters Basilica it was requested that the dome be bigger than the Pantheon however to much disgust by Pope Julius II he made it 1.5metres less wide than the Pantheon.
After a long day looking at sights we sat down for dinner at a restaurant in Piazza Navona square.
Day two in Rome, we jumped back in our DeLorean and headed for the famous Colosseum.
The Colosseum was built in AD 72-80 and is the largest ever built amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. It was used for gladiatorial contests, mock battles and animal hunts and is said to have held up to 50,000 spectators. It ceased as an entertainment venue in the medieval era.
Given the magnitude in size of this structure we surprised ourselves in only spending 2 hours at the site, however we could have spent a little more time there. You can just imagine the roar of the crowd as two warriors fight it out until the death.
Next stop was Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, home to the Roman leaders opulent homes, such as Augustus, all of which now are ruins. There is still a fair amount of excavating going on around the ruins and many areas are roped off given the stability of the structures.
To finish off the day we visited a few more places, the Victor Emmanuel II Monument and the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus was once used as an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium, sadly it has been reduced to a dust bowl. We reckon that that Romans should turn it into a sports complex with running track and stadium mimicking the ancient layout or refurbish it back to its original grandeur.
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