Another unbelievable day of ancient history in the beautiful city of Rome. Every big city has its hustle, bustle and attitude. Rome has all of the above with a European ambiance.
The street our hotel Westin Excelsior is actually likea Michigan Ave. back home. We have seen only a few definable beggars and gypsies at the public venues but have not detected the undercover ones. I bought a purse with latches that attach to the end of your zippers to secure all zipped areas. I have come to call it my Houdini purse because sometimes I cannot even get into it. It makes you think twice before you buy anything because it could take awhile to get to the money. The purse is slash proof because it is lined with a slash resistant mesh throughout even the shoulder strap is slash proof. It is also has a lining which prevents people from stealing information off of your credit cards. Such a bargain.
Anyway into to today's tour.......in the winding course of the bus tour we somehow managed to cover some parts of the 7 hills of Rome. Capital hill is most important, then there was Aventine Hill and Palatine hill and on and on.
We saw 2 American embassies, 1 for Italy and one for the Vatican.
We passed the palace where the president of Italy resides. It has 1200 rooms and was built in the 16 th century.
We passed the building where flags were moving in the breeze from the second floor balcony window. This is the window where Mussolini announced Italy's entry in WWII.
We passed many sites of which we have pictures but probably won't remember what they are. Some buildings dating back to 12 years before Christ's time and Circus Maximus dating 500 years before Jesus.
It all comes down to seeing places you have read and studied about ... Walking on ground and areas that the history is layered hundreds and hundreds of years deep and who took what from whom and who they were. Mind boggling but you make a connection based on what you have heard , read or learned from the History Channel.
I will let the pictures of the Colosseum speak for themselves. During all tours we have what is called a "whispering device" a portable device with earplug so you can hear the narration of our guide and not have to be to him or have him shouting over 100's of people.
Our tour guide is phenomenal in picking up all the prearranged tickets for entry into the museums and tour spots. It reminds me of Europe on fast -pass. She is seamless and smooth ..... gets us out early to a avoid crowds and heat and back to the hotel so we have time to tour areas on our own eat at cafes or lunch and dinner spots of real Italian food in places she highly recommends with maps she has provided.
Tonight we went to a restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto, it is found in an ancient neighborhood of Rome with cobblestone streets ( just like everywhere else) and a lot of " old world flavor". That means more delicious 3 course meals of metered portions.
The first part of the dining experience was when we were brought down two short flights of stairs to the " basement" of the restaurant property. As they were working to rehab the building they found Roman artifacts as well as a drain pipe indicating plumbing during the Roman time. We know of the aqueducts of course , but this was indoors.
The pictures show the various objects. It is believed that if they were able to dig deeper they would find 2 more layers of lost civilization. They say Rome was built on layers. The history and age of everything is mind blowing.
Inside the restaurant we had champagne, then antipasto plate, next came a plate of pasta with prosciutto, followed by roasted lamb and potatoes concluded with tiramisu. All the wine and water you want . The wine is so great as there is no aftertaste and it is all smooth.
The daughter of the restaurant sang Italian songs intermittently and engaged us in singing and clapping.
Afterwards we took another tour by bus retracing the bus tour of the day but being able to see Rome at night. You can actually drive into St. Peter's square and there was the Vatican all lit up as well as all the other fountains, monuments, government buildings and statues of importance.
Now we are back and I am stuffing everything back in suitcases. Living out of one and moving every two to three days makes for a messy mix. But I am not complaining. Tomorrow we are leaving for the countryside of Orvieto and staying in Torgiano. Wine country and wine tasting anyone?
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