Last day in Rome

The last couple days have not been the best. Hardly worth going into details, but lets just say the same old ghosts are at it again.

But today I managed to get back on my feet and I hit Rome hard. I started early... because I found out that the breakfast that my hotel serves, is actually pretty good. This is saying a lot since most of the hotels I have stayed in have offered some sort of breakfast. But usually it consisted of instant coffee, stale bread and maybe a yogurt cup. This breakfast has fruit and cereal and cold scrambled eggs. Luxury. So the past two days I have gotten up early and eaten like 4 helpings for breakfast. Got to save money someone... Yesterday, that was actually my only meal!

So, I got up early, ate breakfast and was out on the street, showered and all by 10 am.

I was wearing my new shoes of course. Which I bought yesterday in a last ditch attempt to save my walking tourist career. Jury is still out on the shoes though... they tend to wear like a pair of wet leather socks. Not sure they do much foot supporting... But they don't rub against the Achilles. :)


Determined to see as many sites as possible, I immediately headed towards the old city center of Rome. First stop Trevi Fountain. I had been told by friends that it was amazing and that you need to face away from the fountain and toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain in order to guarantee your return to Rome. Its an old custom apparently. So I looked it up on the map and it was close.

When I finally rounded the corner and found it... It was pretty disappointing. It was tiny! I figured that it was ancient and so it was probably impressive when it was introduced. I took my pictures and tossed a pence over my shoulder and headed on.

After walking a bit I took another look at my map to figure my next destination only to find that I had made a mistake. I did not just view Trevi Fountain, it was the less heralded Tritone Fountain. I got a laugh out of this and found my way to Trevi.


It was amazing and huge! I took even more photos and this time i tossed a 20 pence coin over my shoulder! Now I am guaranteed to return to Rome! :)


After that I hobbled my way over to the Piazza Colonna, which is a large ancient carved monument very much like Colonna Traiana near the Roman Forum. I actually saw a duplicate of one of these in London. They might not look like much in a photo, but up close, they are massive and rather impressive.



Finally I reached the Pantheon. From the back (I approached the building from behind) this building really did not look like much. Looks like it used to be covered with marble but all that is left now (for the most part) is the underlying brick structure.

A much different story when inside. Its unbelievable to think that this building is over 2000 years old. Built in 27 BC. It was stunning. Again, I will let the photos speak for themselves.





The dome was amazing and had a hole in the center that let in light. Stunning.


Next I hit the Museo di Roma. It would have been easy to miss, but I walked right up to it. I guess nobody else found it though cause I swear I was the only person in the place. It was ok.


At this point I got lost in the mix of roads and alleys. Next thing I knew I was back at the Monumento Vittorio Emanuele II. Which I keep running into. Though, this time they were letting people in!


Turns out the inside had been turned into a WW1 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and an overall WW1 museum. It was exciting enough for something so 'modern'. :)


What I found interesting is the Monument itself is an ancient building that is built on the ruins of an ancient building. The basement was amazing. Also, the were great views of the Roman Forum in the back of the building.

When I exited the back I got trapped in another one of Italy's nasty dead ends that take 15 minutes to realize it goes nowhere. But when I emerged I found the hilite of the day. The Musei Capitolini!


Established in 1471 (in the same building), The Musei Capitolini is the oldest antiquities museum in the world and about everything in it is at least 2000 years old. Amazing. Especially the 2500 year old original She-wolf nurturing Romulus & Remus statue. I remember this big time from Latin class way back when. This statue is duplicated all over Rome. Pretty sure I got a picture of a copy in a Paris park too.


Also, the Colossal bronze statue of Constatine, the Dying Gaul, the Marcus Aurelius statue and the broken up pieces of the Acrolith of Constatine. Not to mention the building itself. Again, this ancient building was built on the ruins of several ancient buildings. You can go in the basement and they have a glassed off wall that behind it shows the marble cornerstone of a building that used to be at street level. Pretty amazing.



My flight to Venice tomorrow is later in the day. So I am hoping to get up early enough for a hefty breakfast and a trip the Vatican. We shall see.

Yesterday was not the best of days. Things I had to deal with: unable to walk much, nasty cough, my mac not starting for over an hour (which freaked me out), my bank card not working most of the day and i was out of money (which freaked me out), the wifi internet not working most of the day, and... well i guess thats it.

I got a 3rd showing on my house today in Indianapolis. I am told to expect an offer this weekend, Monday at the latest. Not sure how I feel about that. Always thought of my house as a backup... a sanctuary that I could always retreat to.

I doubt they will give me what I want. And I wont go down.

I did manage to do my laundry tonight! I am very excited about this. :)

OK, the wine I had for dinner is putting me to sleep. So thats that for now.

Next post, Venice!