Rome, Italy

10th-11th September

From our car park overlooked by the abbey we travelled early along the motorway to get to Rome and chose a camperstop that was on the coast. We arrived to discover that it was no longer open so lunched with a sea view and then trekked back in land. We found another camp site that had been destroyed by a forest fire and at 4pm we finally found the only campsite that was still open - it cost 25 euros a night but gave us a base to catch a bus into the city the next day.

The Rome campsite as the sun sets

We set off to catch the 8.45am bus, crossing a very busy Roman road that was 6 lanes wide and, after working out how to validate our bus tickets, grabbed a seat. We then sat in a traffic jam watching the scooters weave in and out of the traffic for over an hour and eventually alighted at the stop which was also the tube station. We managed to establish what platform we needed and headed for the Vatican to see the Pope!

Huge corridor filled with busts and statues in the Vatican

The Vatican Museum was stunning, elaborate to the point of extroverte and slightly garish at times, but well worth a visit.

 Long corridor filled with hue old maps and one of the many intricately painted ceilings.

We were on a one way route and we managed to lose one another after I followed signs to the Sistine Chapel and he got caught up with a load of snap happy tourists. After about 40 minutes we eventually met up again and decided there was a lot to see so we would press on rather than try to re-cover the tour.

Spiral staircase when leaving the Vatican

Piazza San Petro

We walked to the Piazza San Petro, then along Via della Concilliazione towards Castel San Angelo, to cross the river and see the fountains in Piazza Navona.

 One of the three fountains in Piazza Navona

We had a rest and followed signs to the Pantheon. Which was just absolutely amazing - a dome with an enormous hole (oculus) at the centre through - architectural moment - the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest un-reinforced concrete dome.

 

The Piazza and fountain in front of the Pantheon

 

 It was very hot and some took to sleeping in the back of their horse drawn carriages.

Next was the Trevvi Fountains - which were very impressive although over-subscribed, followed by the Capitoline Hill from which we had an excellent view into the Palletine Excavations. On route we had a distant glimpse of the Colosseum and Trajans Column.

Part of the Trevvi Fountain

 

 View of the Pallatine - looking towards the Colosseum

After another long walk we had travelled around the perimeter of the Pallatine excavations, finding ourselves standing opposite the Colossuem. We thought it'd be rude not to go in, so going against the urge to behave in the style of traditional Italian hospitality, we went in anyway.

The scale of the Colosseum

 

Poser

It was quite late in the day and the sun was beginning to set, casting beautiful shadows across Rome - we will go again!