Roaming around Rome

Rome is quite an incredible city to visit & quite easy to get around using the metro system & walking. The ancient history & ruins that still rest side by side with the modern city is quite the site to take in & pictures hardly do it justice.

I highly recommend a visit to Rome if you ever have the opportunity & if you do visit, you must spring for a proper guided tour as there is just too much to take in on your own. Our tour lasted around two hours & after that, we walked back through much of the grounds covered by the tour, to just take in the expansive history.

We had 2 days in Rome & spent all of day one wandering the Colosseum & Ancient City Center, while most of day 2 was spent visiting Saint Peter’s Basilica & the Vatican Museum after attending Pope Benedict’s weekly address.

At the far end of this photo, you can see the reconstructed wood floor of the arena. This would have originally been covered with sand to absorb the blood spilt during the games.

Site of the Roman Forum, where most of the government & temple buildings were located in the Ancient city. This photo was taken from The Palatine Hill, where the residence of emperors and aristocrats was once located, dating back to the founding of Rome by Romulus in the 9th century BC.

This road was once the main entry into downtown Rome & would have been the route taken by the conquering Roman Army, upon their victorious return to the city to deposit the plunders of war, in the depository behind me.

Couldn't attend the Pope's weekly address without getting a pic of him in the Pope Mobile :)



Pope Benedict XVI beginning his weekly address.

Below this baldachin is the tomb of the Apostle Peter, hence the name Saint Peter's Basilica.

Sorry, the Swiss Guards wouldn’t allow us to take any pics inside the Sistine Chapel, so there are no photos of the frescoed ceiling & walls painted by Michelangelo & other great artists of the Renaissance.