Tuesday 2 September 2008

All Roads Lead To Rome

Tuesday 26 August 2008. The Island Star docked in Civitavecchia - try saying that fast - and we took a coach trip around Rome.

We had Mum with us so couldn't do a lot of walking but unfortunately the coach wasn't allowed to stop at all in Rome so all my photos had to be taken through the window, which meant lots of reflections of the windows behind me and silhouettes of other passengers taking their own photos!

Not to worry, there's a couple of better ones to come. As we enter the city we start to see the occasional impressive chunk of masonry.

And then the big sights start to appear and crowd us all at once as we enter the centre of ancient Rome. This is Circus Maximus where the chariot racing took place.

The area of the Forum comes next and around us are the seven hills of Rome.

The Arch of Janus is just one of a very many triumphal arches. Janus was a god with two faces, the god of beginnings and of gateways. He is unusual in that the Greeks had no similar associated god.

The coach passes a rather more modern imposing building. This is the Palazzo Venezia with the equestrian monument of Victor Emanuel II ('Il Vittoriano'). It was built between 1855 and 1911 to celebrate the Italian Unification.

We are back in the middle of ancient Rome. We noticed a few of these small mobile refreshment stalls.

The Arch of Septimius Severus is one of the more famous arches. Built in the year 203 AD, it commemorates the victories of Emperor Severus and his sons, Caracalla and Geta, in Parthia, the decade before. After his death, Caracalla and Geta ruled jointly as Emperor until Caracalla had Geta assassinated in 212, after which the relationship somewhat fell apart... All mention of Geta was removed from monuments throughout the Roman Empire.

The Colosseum was high on my list of want-to-see remains. I was impressed by just how many remains of ancient Rome there are.

London has gleefully built over much of its remains over the centuries though of course the Great Fire of 1666 wouldn't have helped! As always on tours like this I merrily snapped away without a hope of remembering what I was taking photos of.

Towards the end of the tour we came to the Vatican and this view of St Peter's. There were so many things to see and forget the names of that visiting Rome on foot is a must for the future. It could be on the cards for next year I think! Meanwhile the coach takes us back to the Island Star and Civitavecchia or "Chivvy" as it seems to be shortened to. There is a fortress and a tall ship in the port - after a morning stuck on the coach I might have to jump ship again and stretch my legs!

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