A Colossal Day in Rome

I'm back with more Italy pictures - so many Italy pictures - and today I'm sharing picture from our first day in Rome, where we managed to see Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and the Colosseum before an absolute monster of a storm opened up on Rome and flooded everything for the late afternoon hours of the day! Whoosh! 

I figured I'd mostly share the pictures with captions - between the two days we spent in Rome and the day we spent in Pompeii, I took an alarming number of pictures (likely alarming to you but not to me). Having said that - it was forecast to pour all day in Rome on Tuesday (the 20th) but when we woke up, the weather was surprisingly sunny and so we pretty quickly seized the day - and made our way out to knock out seeing Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps; our tour of the Colosseum was scheduled to begin at 2:00.

The Colosseum in the morning light...

One of the fountains in Piazza Navona.

Piazza Navona - and a rainbow peeking through the clouds!

The Fountain of the Four Rivers!

The Fountain of the Four Rivers!

An obelisk in the center of the Fountain of the Four Rivers!

The Fountain of the Four Rivers!

A church in Piazza Navona!

A third fountain in the Piazza Navona!

My little sister (who has been to Rome before) was an excellent navigator and lead us through the streets and alley ways of Rome, from one sight to another without the slightest hesitation as to where we were going! She led us along skinny roadways and through alleys from Piazza Navona and after just a few short blocks, we rounded the corner and beheld in front of us: the Pantheon! 

The Pantheon was built during the reign of Augustus in 27 BC and completed during Hadrian's rule of Rome and was originally built as a temple. It has been used as a church since the 7th century and is one of the best preserved of the ancient Roman structures - likely because of it's continuous use in one form or another. And it was absolutely stunning to see... the architecture of the building and wrapping your mind around the fact that it was built long...long...long before modern conveniences.

The Pantheon of Rome.

The Pantheon

The dome of the Pantheon - open to the elements. 

Anyone else wonder how they built this? I was in awe....

Selfie with the dome of the Pantheon!

Smile! You're in the Pantheon in Rome!

Fun tidbit of information: in the above picture, I'm standing on a drain of sorts...if you can see the slight discoloration of the floor under my feet. The dome of the Pantheon is open to the elements and it had rained some the night before. They keep the area directly under the center of the dome roped off, but the building was designed with drains in the floor to funnel the water off the floor and down through the building. Ingenious - right?

The altar and the dome of the Pantheon.

The Corinthian columns and the roof work of the Pantheon.

The Pantheon of Rome.

Cheese! Pantheon selfie!

We wound our way through the streets and shortly we came upon - Trevi Fountain - the name, which means the convergence of three roads and is believe to mark the terminal spot of one of the aqueducts that brought water to Rome. The fountain presents the discovery of a pure water source in the city of Rome and the fountain is made from travertine that was quarried from Tivoli. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the fountain, it will guarantee your return to Rome.

Trevi Fountain!

Breathtaking!

Also fascinating - it literally fronts the facade of a building...

Tossing the coin...

It must be thrown with the right hand...over the left shoulder...

Tossing those coins...

My sister is looking at my Mom's camera - not mine, ha-ha!

Cheese!

Can't believe I'm standing here!

A side view of the fountain!

A woman definitely got the whistle blown at her for trying to hop on this...

Glorious - no?

I can't believe I'm here!

 Our final stop as we raced around the city was the Spanish Steps - a staircase comprised of 174 steps that are located on the Piazza de Spagna. My younger sister and I elected to climb the steps while our parents waited below and as we arrived at the top of the steps, the clouds rolled in and small raindrops began to fall...

The Spanish Steps!

Selfie with the Spanish Steps!

Halfway to the top of the Spanish Steps!

Taking in the view from the mid-way point on the climb...

Cheese! We made it to the top!

The view from the top - you could see the dome of Saint Peter's.. but I don't see it in this picture.

Stopping for a snap halfway down the stairs...

Smile!

We managed to hop into a cab as fat raindrops began to fall and we made our way over to the Colosseum, where we found a restaurant to have lunch before our tour at 2:00. The rain began to come down in earnest and we watched people racing around with their umbrellas while the people already touring the Colosseum watched from under the cover of the epic structure.

The Colosseum from our lunch spot!

Parma Ham Pizza - I did not know there would be this much ham!

Afternoon cup of coffee? Yes please!

Just a background lunch view of the Colosseum!

We had a tour scheduled for 2:00 that was to include the Colosseum, with entry onto the floor where the gladiators would have been, followed by a tour of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. The rain came down on and off as we waited for our guide, checked in and made our way over to the entrance of the Colosseum - but by the time we'd entered, the flood had backed off and it was simply cloudy. 

The Colosseum (also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre) is the largest amphitheatre ever built and construction began during the reign of Vespasian in 72 AD and was completed during the reign of Titus, in 80 AD. The Colosseum could hold 50,000 to 80,000 spectators and was used for gladiatorial combats, animal hunts, public executions, dramas and yes... naval battles - the Colosseum could be flooded via the aqueduct system for mock naval battles. There's a reason Rome once ruled the world...

Singing in the rain...in Rome...in front of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum as we approached...

You can still see the numbers above the entrance - each "gate" had a number...

The numbered gates allowed the structure to fill to capacity in 10-15 minutes.

The outer wall that still remains - the rest having collapsed during earthquakes.

The walls of the Colosseum that are visible today are what were once the inner walls and the outer walls were held together with iron clamps - no mortar was used.The arches in the interior walls would have framed a statue and 240 mast corbels were positioned along the top to support a retractable awning that covered 2/3 of the stadium. Tickets for events were numbered pottery shards that led spectators to their seats via vomitoria - which means "to quickly expel" in Latin and inspired a lovely word in the English language. Any guesses what that word is?

The gladiatorial entrance...

Notches in the wall marking where iron clamps once held the structure together - they were stolen...

Iron gates leading to lower levels of the Colosseum. 

A panoramic of the Colosseum from inside...

Peering into the lower levels of the Colosseum...

My face does not even remotely convey my delight at being in the center of the Colosseum!

The floor of the Colosseum was wooden planks covered with sand and underneath was a vast labyrinth of passageways and cages that made up the hypogeum - which literally means "underground". The cages held gladiators, animals and those condemned to die in battle and these people and animals, as well as props and set pieces could be moved from the underground to the floor of the Colosseum via eighty vertical shafts. The gladiators barracks were connected to the hypogeum via tunnels, while separate tunnels allowed the emperor and vestal virgins to enter to Colosseum without having to pass through the crowds.

The hypogeum was built as an addition by the emperor Domitian and once it was in place, the ability to flood the Colosseum via aqueduct was no longer an option - so naval battles were no more.

The hypogeum - a maze of cages, gates, trap doors and more...

Cheese!

So freaking exciting to be standing on the floor of the Colosseum!

White seats with names inscribed on them - likely for elite members of Roman society. 

Tiered seating rising upward...

Excavations are currently ongoing in the hypogeum...

A cross - remembrance of the Christians sacrificed in the Colosseum. 

An art piece recovered by excavations...

Steps leading to higher seating levels - blocked off with a gate...

Panoramic! 

We spent about twenty minutes on the guided portion of the tour and we were then released to explore on our own - and after a short bathroom break we climbed the stairs to the second level to look around. We also perused the gift shop and when we came out, the rain had returned with a vengeance! It was absolutely pouring and people were huddled all along the interior walkways (the vomitoria...as it were...) trying to stick it out until the rain stopped. We joined them and hoped for the best, even though we only had about 15 minutes until we were supposed to meet our tour group at the Arch of Constantine to make our way to the Roman Forum.

The Temple of Venus as seen from the Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine - to the left.

So. Much. Rain.

Hands on the history!

The Colosseum in the rain...

Up to the upper most level...

The flooding Colosseum & a column on the ground...

We layered our clothes and jackets with ponchos and set out in the rain to meet up with our tour group... only to discover that they'd apparently not waited around a single minute past our appointed meeting time. We trudge on toward the entrance to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill in hopes of catching them - but there was no such luck. Granted, by this time it was absolutely pouring, our umbrellas were almost useless and it had begun to thunder and lightning in earnest. We decided to throw in the towel and walk the short walk back to our AirBnB and wait out the rain... and thank goodness it was only a short walk, because in the 5-7 minutes it took us to walk back, we all ended up completely soaked from the waist down. *sigh*

A rain soaked snapshot of some ruins on the wet walk back to the apartment...

The Colosseum in the rain...

The courtyard of our apartment...

We holed up in the apartment from about 3:00 until the rain finally tapered off around 7:00 and then we headed out to find a taxi to take us to a restaurant that one of Lindsey's friends had recommended. It was in a back alleyway, up a flight of stairs and was designed to be very "old world Italian" - our cab driver told us that native Italians probably wouldn't eat there but it was still a good spot. 

I reviewed the menu carefully and ordered the Pizza Napalitano - which indicated it would have sauce and cheese - so I figured I'd ordered a winner. My sister and I had even googled the pizza and I felt like I'd made a good choice...especially considering that some of the pizza offered had things like french fries, mushrooms or sardines as toppings. *gag* My pizza arrived and because the restaurant was rather dimly lit, I couldn't quite make out what the small brownish things were on my pizza but I assumed they were basil...maybe? 

They were not widespread on the pizza and so I'd worked through an entire piece and shared one with my sister before I took a bite with some brown on it...and I immediately regretted the bite. After my sister confessed she'd thought her slice (which contained some of the topping) had tasted odd... I pulled out my phone and shone the flashlight on the little toppings - they were sardines! I couldn't finish the pizza and upon further investigation, we discovered that Pizza Napalitano does in fact, have sardines on it.

Tiramisu for dessert! 

It was nothing a little dessert couldn't help and our waiter was kind enough to not charge us for the pizza - although I suppose it was a silly American mistake that we made. Granted, I still remain confused as to why they had a pizza farther down the menu with a completely different name that had sardines as the topping...but the listing for my pizza made no mention of the stinky little fish... Oh well.

We made our way down the stairs, out into the misty night and took an Uber back to our apartment to close out our first full day in Rome. Memories made and lessons learned: don't ever order Pizza Napalitano again!

The stairs into the city...