We sent the kids off bright an early this morning to Vatican City to see the sights there, since we've been several times, and it was raining...we slept in. Once we got going, we headed to the Piazza del Popolo, which literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza.
The Piazza lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called Porta del Popolo. This was the starting point of the Via Flaminia, the road to Ariminum (modern Rimini) and the most important route to the north. At the same time, before the age of railroads, it was the traveller's first view of Rome upon arrival. For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.
Looking from the north, three streets branch out from the Piazza, forming the so-called "trident": the Via del Corso in the centre, the Via del Babuino on the left, opened in 1525, and the Via di Ripetta, opened in 1518, on the right. Twin churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1681) and Santa Maria in Montesanto (1679), begun by Carlo Rainaldi and completed by Bernini and Carlo Fontana, define the junctions of the roads. Close scrutiny of the twin churches reveals that they are not mere copies of one another, as they would have been in a Neoclassical project, but vary in their details, offering variety within their symmetrical balance in Baroque fashion.
At the center of the piazza is the Fontana dell' Obelisco: a group of four mini fountains each comprising a lion on a stepped plinth, surround an Egyptian obelisk of Ramesses II from Heliopolis.
The Fontana di Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune) stands on the west side, Neptune with his trident is accompanied by two dolphins. Rome between the Tiber and the Aniene on the east side, against the steep slope of the Pincio, represents the terminal mostra of the aqueduct. Dea Roma armed with lance and helmet, and in front is the she-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus.
Me and a kitty...
Oh noooooo! Don't look directly at the man selling roses! They are notoriously pushy and ALWAYS want money despite them telling you they are free!
I'm not sure what these signs are advertising, or maybe they are just statements...
The Column of Marcus Aurelius, is a Doric column, with a spiral relief, built in honor of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and modeled on Trajan's Column. It still stands on its original site in Rome, in Piazza Colonna.
A lovely day for a stroll...
The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II is a monument to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill, it was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1895 and was completed in 1935. The monument, is built of pure white marble, and features majestic stairways, tall Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 m (266 ft). The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification.
The monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, built under the statue of Italy after World War I. The body of the unknown soldier was chosen on October 26, 1921 from amongst 11 unknown remains by Maria Bergamas, a woman from Gradisca d'Isonzo whose only child was killed during World War I. The son's body was never recovered. The selected unknown was transferred from Aquileia, where the ceremony with Bergamas had taken place to Rome and buried in a state funeral on November 4, 1921.
The monument was controversial since its construction destroyed a large area of the Capitoline Hill with a Medieval neighbor hood for its sake. The monument itself is often regarded as pompous and too large. It is clearly visible to most of the city of Rome despite being boxy in general shape and lacking a dome or a tower. The monument is also glaringly white, making it highly conspicuous amidst the generally brownish buildings surrounding it, and its stacked, crowded nature has lent it several derogatory nicknames. Romans sometimes refer to the structure by a variety of irreverent slang expressions, such as "the wedding cake", and "the false teeth", while Americans invading Rome in 1944 labeled it "the typewriter".
Trajan's Column, raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and is located in Trajan's Forum, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which commemorates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. The structure is about 98 ft in height, 125 ft including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 40 tons, with a diameter of 11 ft. The 625 ft frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 stairs provides access to a viewing platform at the top. The capital block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons which had to be lifted to a height of ca. 34 m. Ancient coins indicate preliminary plans to top the column with a statue of a bird, probably an eagle, but after construction a statue of Trajan was put in place; this statue disappeared in the Middle Ages. On December 4, 1587, the top was crowned by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze figure of St. Peter, which remains to this day.
The Roman Forum, is located between the Palatine hill and the Capitoline hill. It is the central area around which the ancient Roman civilization developed. Citizens referred to the location as the "Forum Magnum" or just the "Forum".
He should be holding an umbrella today, well I guess he is standing under an umbrella pine...
Rain or shine, the Colosseum is an awesome sight!
It only took a couple of hours for us to not only get soaking wet, but tired of walking, so we headed back to the hotel. A couple of hours later the kids got wet and tired too...
This was our bathroom... I guess we shouldn't complain...At least we had a shower (even if we barely fit in it), the kids just had a hand held shower head and a tub...hee hee!
When it got dark, we headed off to see the Colosseum all light up, walk along the Forum, Capitoline hill, and to have dinner at a great little place Stu and I found a couple of months ago...
Jill, Ty, Lindsey and Stu with the Colosseum in the back.
And me...
Lindsey, Ty and Jill with the Victor Emmanuel monument in the back.
At the restaurant...
Lindsey, Ty, our waiter and Jill
Group shot.
Who knows...
Lindsey and Jill
Stu and Ty
We saw them off to the airport, early, early this morning and got back to Naples this afternoon...Whew! We are so happy to be home, even if it is only for another 52 days!
