When in Rome

Two weeks ago, our daughter Liz and her husband Jeremy flew in to Rome to start their visit with us.  We trained down to meet them at the airport, then spent a whirlwind two days in the Eternal City.  They landed at 9:30 in the morning and we told them they had to stay up to adjust to the local time zone, so after freshening up at our hotel, we headed for the Colosseum.

I have always been fascinated by how all the levels of the Colosseum are perfect ellipses.  If you remember high school geometry, it is actually easy to lay this out.

After dinner we finally let the kids sleep, as we had to get up early for a 7:30am tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  They do not allow pictures taken in the chapel, so we do not have one of God's and Adam's fingers touching to show you, but here are a few from the Museum and St. Peter's square: 

A scene in one of the Raphael Rooms.  Every ceiling is treated as this one.

After the Vatican, we caught the metro over to the Spanish Steps and just sat down for a while before moving on to the Trevi Fountain.  It was a bit of a disappointment as the fountain was drained and had an ugly scaffolding around it.  At least we could walk out on the scaffolding and get closer than otherwise.  After lunch we headed for the excavated ruins of the Forum, the heart of ancient Roman civilization.

The Temple of Saturn

Who were these men?

The ceiling of the arch of Septimius Severus

In the garden of the vestal virgins

We then walked up the Palantine Hill to an overlook of the Forum, discovering a beautiful wooded park and rose garden.  Of course, Carmen could not resist pictures of roses.

That night we rendezvoused with my brother Alan and his wife Sharon, who had just arrived for their visit.  Dinner with them is always a joy because Alan is a wine merchant and can be counted on to select a great wine.

The next day was our last in Rome, limited by the need to catch our train back to Firenze and then to Rignano.  Time for a few last photos, and then, Arrivederci Roma!

"Say 'Fromaggio!'"