Tuesday Treasures

Tom hosts Tuesday's Treasures.

May 2004 - Rome Italy

This was our first trip to Rome and we had a decent digital camera so took tons of photos!
Of historical note too, this was the first time we booked an apartment rental online!

Returning to Rome has been on John's bucket list so we will be doing that in May.

I thought I would post some of the highlights.

THE FORUM

THE COLOSSEUM

Some gladiators on break, having a cigarette.

Long before the modern lie detector and graphs and wires were invented, the superstitious and untruthful faced a much more severe fate between the jaws of the Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Fate, an ancient carving which is said to bite the hands off of liars.

The National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II (Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II) is a remarkably large building made of white marble.
For some, the structure is similar to a wedding cake, because of its wide stairways. Others would see it as a typewriter because of its odd and huge shape.

At the base and guarded by soldiers is the Altare della Patria, or the Altar of the Fatherland, where the tomb of an unknown soldier is found. This soldier was killed in the 1st World War and became a symbol for all unknown fallen soldiers of Italy.

Palazzo del Quirinal & obelisk Castor and Pollux.

Elephant and Obelisk is the base of the smallest obelisk of Rome, with a height of 5.47 meters.The statue is a sculpture designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Piazza della Rotonda is the square right outside the Pantheon. As the Pantheon’s informal name is the church of Santa Maria Rotonda, that’s how the piazza gets the name.
The Fontana del Pantheon was finished in 1575.

The Spanish Steps where we also had dinner one night.

We were drawn to Piazza del Popolo because the book Angels and Demons was so popular at the time and we had both read it. So we had to have lunch in the cafe where the Dan Brown character ate.

Two churches look onto the square; Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto. These two temples look identical from the exterior, but hide several differences inside.

In looking at these photos we apparently spent a fair amount of time at the Borghese Gardens.

The Museum of Modern Art

Castel Sant'Angelo on the Tiber River

Built as a mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian, it was converted into a papal fortress in the 6th century and named after an angelic vision that Pope Gregory the Great had in 590. Nowadays, it houses the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo and its grand collection of paintings, sculpture, military memorabilia and medieval firearms.

VATICAN
We went into St. Peter's and also saw the Sistine Chapel, something one must do on a first trip to Rome.

Having caffe in the shadow of the Vatican.

Drinking wine in Piazza Navona during a rain shower.