We slept in this morning. No need to get out early.
Our hotel won’t sail away if we don’t return in time. We enjoyed our buffet
breakfast and took the bus and metro to the Colosseum.
First we visited one of Rome’s many Basilica’s: San
Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). The church has also a statue of Moses and
of course the Reliquary containing the chains of St. Peter.
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| Inside Basilica’s San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains) |
There was a long line at the Colosseum. The tip you
read on the internet is not to buy your tickets at the Colosseum, but on the
other side of the road at palatine Hill. However we saw a giant line there as
well so we just joined the line at the Colosseum. We should have bought tickets online. However,
it was not even that bad. We only waited for half an hour. During the waiting
time we could see the stacked stones that the outer part of the Colosseum is
made of. We were impressed to read that in ancient times 50.000 people could
enter and leave the Colosseum in just 15 minutes.
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| The Colosseum |
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| Inside the Colosseum |
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| Inside the Colosseum |
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| Inside the Colosseum |
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| Inside the Colosseum (panorama) |
Once inside we were impressed by the size of it. Of
course the intent of the Colosseum was a bit bloody. However, very impressive.
From the top ring you have a good view on the Forum Romano.
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| View on the Fomum Romano from the Colosseum |
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| View on the Fomum Romano from the Colosseum |
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| The Colosseum |
After exiting the Colosseum we took advantage of our
bus tickets. It is not a very long walk to the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II,
but since we enjoy unlimited use of all metros, trains and buses we just took a
bus.
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| Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
Lunchtime, so we tried to find a restaurant. This time
we were luckier than yesterday. We had the best pizza ever at Bar Rudi, just
opposite the monument. We ate in a back room, decorated with pictures from
paintings of Monet.
The Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II was supposed to
have an elevator to take you to the roof. So we followed the sighs to the
elevator. We walked one staircase after another. We thought the elevator was a
joke and they made us walk upstairs. The elevator did exist, but only after a lot of
steps.
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| Statue on top of the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
The view after you get out of the elevator is very
rewarding. The monument is probably the highest point in the city, so you get the very best view from here. We love the eternal city!
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| View from the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
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| View from the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
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| View from the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
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| View from the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
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| View from the Monument a Vittorio Emanuele II |
We took even more stairs down and had ice-cream at Vacanze
Romane. We remembered the excellent quality from the last time we were here. It
is close to Bar Rudy, so we have our favorite pizza and ice-cream conveniently
close to each other.
Our next destination was a short bus ride away, but
the tram would follow a nicer route so we took the tram in order to change on another tram. Unfortunately the
other tram was substituted by a bus, so we had a far lesser interesting route
instead. But we did get to see the ancient Pyramid.
We ended up at Basilica San Clemente. The church is
built in the 11th century AD. In it is the choir from the older
church from the 6th century AD. That older church is underneath the
current church and was destroyed in 1084. They excavated it and we visited it
too. You could even go deeper in the Roman ground, even lower than the level of
the groundwater. Underneath is a residence that was also used as part of a
temple of the cult of Mithras. At this level there are also remnants of a
clandestine church from the time before 313 AD when Constantine declared freedom of
religion. So there are actually three churches on top of each other: the
clandestine church, the first basilica and the current (second) basilica.
A couple of minutes walking from the basilica is
another basilica: San Giovanni in Laterano. This is the church of the Bishop of
Rome. The bishop of Rome is none other then the Pope. Once again a beautiful
church.
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| Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano |
On the other side of the street is the Scala Santa
(the Holy Stairs). Pilgrims climb the stairs on their knees while praying.
A long but great day in Rome. Tomorrow our last (full)
day in Rome.
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