- Rome

Early morning shot

Rome turned out to be a great stop for us. We rented an apartment in the Trastevere district on the west bank of the Tiber, a neighborhood we knew nothing about until we arrived. Once in Rome we found Trastevere to have an abundance of restaurants, markets, ready access to a river walk, and lots of great people watching. All of this coupled with
a nice quiet location made this apartment just the right place to stay. It was also reasonably close to most of Rome's historical sites. We visited The Amphitheater and The Forum our first day in Rome, and the Vatican our second. We only had 2 1/2 days so that pretty much filled our calendar. The weather continued to be scorching hot at around 38C each day, but we made the most of it by getting out early. Of course, the girls interest in the historic sites was limited, but they did their best to fane interest.

Trastevere local

Whenever we got to a new place on this trip it was helpful to get oriented quickly. I found that taking an exploratory run worked very well. It's fast enough to cover significant ground, but slow enough to take it all in. Things are accessible when you run (relative to driving or bus trips), and you can easily adjust course as needed. Our first morning in Rome I got up early with the intent of beating the heat and getting oriented. I took off from our apartment and headed north across the Tiber, and ended up seeing many historical sites. I briefly visited Giardini di Montecavallo, The Spanish Steps, Piazza di Popolo, the excavation of Pompei's Theater, and finally...the Pantheon. This morning's visit to the Pantheon was by design. I got there just prior to opening so I grabbed a Cappuccino and watched the crowds arrive. It was a really nice morning (the daily scorch had not yet hit) and the Cappuccino was excellent. What a run, what a morning!

Pompeii's Theater. This pic shows the steps
where Caesar was believed to be stabbed

A procession in Trastevere

The Pantheon

I have been wanting to see the Pantheon for some time. Originally built by Marcus Agrippa, a brilliant military and architectural three-time consul who was largely responsible for Augustus' success as emperor, it is an significant architectural accomplishment. He designed and constructed the Pantheon, as well as many other building's, during Augustus' reign from 27 BC to 14 AD. Since that time, the Pantheon was destroyed by fire two times over. The current Pantheon was rebuilt sometime around 80 BC and retains a reference to Agrippa on the facade. The large barrel-shaped interior of the primary building is capped with a dome that contains a circular opening in the center allowing rainfall and light to enter the building. The Pantheon has equal dimensions horizontally and vertically (around 43 meters) making its construction even more impressive since it weighs over 4500 metric tons. The granite columns in front and the entryway doors are massive. I watched them open the doors for the day and it took considerable effort.

Opening The Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Renovation at The Forum

On this trip to Rome I was struck by the degree of ongoing renovation. Last time I was here in 2004 so many of the historical sites were in disrepair with no sign of renovation. Although it's a disappointment to arrive at a site to find scaffolding and netting, it's promising to see so much restoration taking place.

It was also nice to be on foot rather than driving. With only three places left in our trip and all of them being fairly contained, we returned the car in Rome and it was a welcome relief to no longer fight the Italy driving norms. Although the car was indispensable during the earlier part of our trip, it made no sense to keep it in Rome, Dubrovnik and Vienna.

Octavian (aka Augustus).A big head
for the "Last Great Emperor'

While in the Sistine Chapel we ran into the Mayor of Portland Charlie Hales and his wife, Nancy. Weird coincidence: I was standing there in the crowd staring up at the Michelangelo Fresco with my neck bent and eyes strained, when in my peripheral vision I caught a glimpse of a "Portland OR" handbag draped across a woman's shoulder. I was pointing it out to Ali when the woman turned and asked if we were from Portland. I guess she figured it was either that or I was training Ali to identify a good pick-pocket mark. We had learned earlier that young children, particularly girls, were often the trained pickpockets in Rome. Anyway, I am probably 2 feet away from this woman pointing at her bag and she turns and asks, "Are you from Portland"? She introduced herself and her husband Charlie ("...this is your  mayor"), and we all chuckled at our unlikely encounter in the Sistine Chapel. We learned later (thank you Judy) that several U.S. Mayors including Charlie Hales were in Rome supporting the Pope's position on climate change.

Laocoon and His Sons

After the Sistine Chapel, Cailin and I took the trek to the top of the St Peters Basilica dome. It measures a height of 137 meters and some say it's the tallest dome in the world. It was interesting to climb up the steep narrow stairs, which included a rope to assist. Especially odd was the climb inside the dome of the church. It's about 1.5 feet wide and the walls have a significant right canter relative to the floor giving you an odd sensation as you walk. The view from the top was outstanding and well worth the effort.

Inside the dome

Climbing the stairs

View of Rome from the top of St Peter's Basilica

The Basilica and Chapel were one of the most impressive man-made structures I have ever seen. And inside these buildings the Fresco's, sculptures, tapestries, maps, and other artwork were outstanding.

Although crowded and sometimes full of floating street litter, we enjoyed Rome with all of its historic buildings, artwork and street life. We enjoyed going out at night and listening to musicians, experiencing the burgeoning craft beer scene and checking out the shops.