4 days in Rome

Colosseum

Rome, the eternal city was very welcoming with a cosmopolitan city feeling. The lady of our hotel/apt. did not speak English at all. After a rather difficult first encounter with her, the later meetings went quite smooth in English and Italian with an hand-gesture-interface. The hotel/apt was very nice considering the high walls, old windows, 2 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum, the punctual and meticulous room keeping services , delightful fresh Camay soap bars every day and the daily breakfast at a roadside cafe on the Cavour street, included in our hotel cost.

Stayed @ Cheap & Chic Hotel Roma, Rome, IT

Nero's racing grounds near Ludus Magnus

We spent the whole of our first day in Colosseum area. We had the Roma pass, and so we were allowed to skip the line, both at Colosseum, and the Palatine garden and Roman Forum opposite the Colosseum. For a classic Hollywood movie lover like me, traveling with a strong history buff as my husband, 4 days in Rome fell short to satisfy us, more so when one of those 4 days we had to visit the Vatican city. We wanted to explore every bit of the ancient(Colosseum,Forum,museums), medieval (the obelisks and cathedrals) and new world Rome. The ROMA pass was a great help, as we took the bus and underground trains everywhere, round and round over the city. We even stopped at the Ludus Magnus where now stands only two stones bearing evidence of an once very popular gladiator training school, we stood on the side of the road where once Reno drove his carriage like a madman, the Via Appia Antica -  the first road ever built, and put our hands in the Mouth of Truth which cuts your hand if you tell a lie.

Temple of Saturn

 And then, all the churches in Europe are famous, specially the ones in Rome. One had St Peter's chains, one had the saint's head, one had the stairs which Jesus Himself had strided on His way to crucification (we saw pilgrims crying there. Rudy is an atheist, but he joined the pilgrims who were climbing the steps on their knees, and he had found it too overbearing and did not finish his climb. I felt he was on the verge of conversion amongst believers that day.). We also went to the church which was the old home to the Pope before the St Paul's cathedral.

Abandoned/ancient St Paul's Cathedral

DAY 6 : COLOSSEUM, PALATINE GARDEN, ROMAN FORUM, ROMAN PANTHEON

Roman Pantheon

DAY 7 : VATICAN CITY, TREVI FOUNTAIN

DAY 8 : ALL CHURCHES & BERNINI's FOUNTAINS

DAY 9 : STREETS of ROME, MUSEUM

Pope's old home

boy taking out thorn(Roman replica from the original Greek one)

Venus lost her clothes somewhere

..caught telling a lie

One of the Pontificus Maximus

Gift of Govt. of India to the Govt. of Rome

With all the history, relics, stories, architecture, and of course good food, Rome was surely a very overwhelming experience for us. So I remembered to throw a penny over my left shoulder in the Trevi Fountain so that some day we can go back to Rome.

Next time, I will not miss the trip to Pompei - the city frozen in time.