Sightseeing in Rome

I love Rome. So much history, so much charm... in fact I could spend all day walking around Rome. So today I did!

Our day began with a visit to the Colosseum and Roman Forum, which was only a ~20 minute walk from our apartment. Leslie and I had done this a million years ago on our honeymoon, but we thought it would be good to let the girls see some of the famous Roman sights as well. 

On our approach to the Colosseum we got a good look at the Arch of Constantine, inspired by earlier arches (we'll get to that). And of course Constantine always had to be a bit extra, so his arch is actually three arches. Also, fun fact: he ripped off a lot of the sculptures from earlier Roman emperors (including big names such as Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius) and had the heads replaced with his own. Come on man. 

It was already busy when we arrived at the Colosseum lineup at 8:30am, but lines were short and we got in quickly. And the Colosseum was just as impressive as I remembered it. 

From there we made a quick detour to a nearby toilet, got the kids some slushies, and then entered the Forum to see some of the sights there. 

The Arch of Titus - which was used as inspiration for the Arc du Triomphe in Paris - is the oldest of the arches in the Forum. It was commissioned by Titus' brother shortly after his death, and commemorates his victories including the 70 AD siege of Jerusalem. In the carvings you can see a depiction of loot being hauled off from Herod's Temple, including a menorah. 

Honestly, the three arches in the Forum are the best-preserved pieces of history due to their sheer bulk, but it was nonetheless interesting to see what's left of the temples and buildings from the distant past and imagine what they used to look like. 

View of the Forum from the Palatine Hill

The last of the three arches is that of Septimius Severus, which commemorates two campaigns against the Parthians (modern day Iraq and Iran), in 194-195 AD and 197-199 AD. 

Once we were done in the Forum, Leslie and the girls opted to retreat from the summer heat back to the air-conditioned Airbnb, with one of our family members still not feeling 100%. I appreciate that Leslie volunteered for this (although I suspect she wasn't entirely sad about it either, given the temperatures). I however had a few more things on my Rome wish list, and was intent on carpin' all them diems.

My next stop was Trajan's Column, which has a spiral bas relief that winds around the column 23 times with carvings that depict the wars between the Romans and Dacians in 101-102 AD and 105-106 AD. Dacia was a kingdom at the periphery of the Roman empire that insisted on poking the bear. In the first conflict the Romans quickly demonstrated their military superiority, and the Dacians quickly made peace. Then the Dacians violated their peace treaty and poked the bear again, and the Romans messed them up (Roman legions were permanently posted to Dacia, and 100,000 male slaves were sent to Rome). Don't poke the bear. 

30 metres high, and there's actually a winding staircase inside up to that platform (off limits to tourists sadly) 

These carvings were originally painted in vibrant colours too! 

From Trajan's Column I made my way to my next stop: a similiar column modelled after Trajan's, belonging to Marcus Aurelius. This column is a testament to the emperor's military achievements against the Germanic tribes along the Danube river, and was finished in 193 AD. Clearly Marcus Aurelius was like "Trajan's Column is super cool; I want one too."  Who can blame him. 

I am constantly impressed with how well-preserved some of these monuments are. 

From here... Well it's time for some ancient Egyptian artifacts.  Because even the Romans thought that the ancient Egyptians were super-cool (so they stole some stuff and hauled it back to Rome). 

Obelisk of Montecitorio, brought to Rome in 10 BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus

Flaminio Obelisk, originally commissioned by Seti I around 1290 BC, and brought to Rome in 1 BC

Love me some hierglyphs

All in all I probably covered ~12km on foot today, which I could not have done without the public water fountains located all over the place where the public can fill water bottles and splash some water on their face. And I really loved it; outside of the many, many famous landmarks there are countless other buildings, squares, and alleys that have a lot of charm. And also churches. Churches everywhere. 

I had a couple of churches on my list that I wanted to visit, but both were closed today, so I made some opportunistic stops at a few others on my route. 

The Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle in particular was stunning. The light coming in mid-afternoon gave the entire basilica an unworldly golden glow that had my mouth hanging open - unreal.  And it had nine domes in all. Nine!! 

Tomorrow is our last day of this epic vacation, which means this is likely my last blog entry. It's bittersweet, but we are starting to feel the pull back to our jobs, the new school year, and various extracurricular activities. Despite the heat (and some unplanned tummy troubles), I feel like it's been a pretty special and memorable trip with a little something for everyone in our family. 

Arrivederci!