Roma: Day Seven

Ancient Rome!

We started our day by sleeping in (that means we got up at 7:00) and made it to breakfast in the hotel (we've left too early to catch it every other morning.. we weren't missing much). We caught the metro down to the Colosseum and got in line just as they were opening. When we went to see it before, the line was astronomical. We only waited about 20 minutes to get our tickets and book our behind-the-scenes tour for that afternoon.

We did a little walking around and then headed to the St. Peter in Chains church, just up the hill. This church is mostly known for Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II (he is the pope who commissioned most of Michelangelo and Raphael''s work in the Vatican). The church also houses a set of chains that are 'said to be' the chains that Peter was freed from while in prison (Acts 12:5-17).

The tomb of Pope Julius II, Moses is in the middle.

After that, we headed to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Awesome!

Isn't this garden gorgeous!

This is where the Emperor used to sit when visited by people!

This is the entrance and large hall where people would approach the emperor
(used to be closed in, ornate and over seven stories tall!)

The view of the city, no wonder this was prime real estate!

The Arch of Titus

This is a scene of the Romans carrying away the plunder from their sacking of the second Jewish Temple
in Jerusalem (see the menorah/seven branch candlestick). It is an important piece of historical documentation,
because there are some people (the current owners of the temple mount in Jerusalem) that would like to
change history and say that the Israelites never had a Jewish temple. However, this is considered
proof that it existed when the Romans took over Jerusalem. 

We were pretty excited for our behind-the-scenes tour of the Colosseum. This tour allows you on the platform, the ground level and on the third/top level. What a sight and what a view from the top!

This section is a reconstruction of what the entire amphitheater
would have looked like in terms of seating. It would also have
been entirely blazing white, like those white stones you see here.

Elevator number eight. This is one of the supports for one of the many elevators that lifted animals and fighters
onto the stage. Our tour guide pointed out that Romans numbered everything!

The view from the top looking down.

The fourth and fifth floors were up there, for common people.

The remains of a staircase to get to the upper level seating.

The emperor sat in this section, where the cross is now.

Arch of Constantine from above.

The forum from above.

After our Colosseum tour we went to a restaurant we'd heard about that had a second level terrace with a view of the Colosseum. We decided this would be the perfect end to our fantastic week in Rome. We had an absolutely fantastic dinner here with killer dessert and our last Italian cappuccino. It was perfect. You just can't get a view like this at home!

We headed back to the hotel to ditch some things and then we went out to do some shopping! We literally shopped until we dropped and closed down the town. We barely got our last few items before everything was closed down and our feet refused to go another step. \

The next day we would get up early and catch a train to Tel Aviv, Israel and spend the day traveling.

What an unbelievable week we had in Roma. I can't even contain all of the sights and history we soaked up. We absolutely loved every minute of it (okay, okay, except that two hours walking around Naples). Arrivederci Rome!