🙂 Colosseum, Roman Forum and Pantheon. The dolce vita lifestyle…Zipping around on electric scooters screaming: ‘Silenzio Bruno’ and “Belisimo!”!!!
🙁 Smokers. Italian Drivers!
THREE things we did not know about Rome:
- Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus. The exact date of the foundation of Rome is not accurate. The generally accepted story: Remus and Romulus were abandoned by their parents, and rescued by a female wolf. The she-wolf suckled the two boys until they grew up. As adults, Remus and Romulus wanted to found a new city, but couldn’t agree on the name, nor on the location. A fight ensued, and Romulus killed his brother.
- The Colosseum is 1 of the 7 new wonders of the world. The Colosseum is the most famous landmark in Rome. It’s a massive amphitheater, built by the Romans in 80 AD. The Colosseum could hold up to 50,000 to 80,000 spectators, which is pretty impressive for something built literally 2,000 years ago. Gladiator fights were one of the main events hosted in the Colosseum. The fighters were most often slaves, and they fought against each other in massive fights to entertain the crowds. At the beginning, these fights were fight to death: gladiators who lost the battle or got injured were sentenced to die on the field. The Colosseum was sometimes completely flooded to host naval battles. When the Colosseum first opened in 80 AD, it hosted a naumachia: a naval battle – gladiators fought in ships and in water. These events were pretty popular, and hosted several times in the amphitheater, but also outside in lakes. Over 500,000 gladiators and 1 million animals were killed during the Colosseum fights. For the inauguration of the Colosseum in 81 AD, the games lasted 100 days. During the games, more than 9,000 wild animals were killed, including wolves, snakes, hyenas, giraffes, lions and tigers among others.
- Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Curia of Pompey – He ruled as a dictator from 49 BC to 44 BC. He was murdered on 15 March 44 BC by a group of 60 senators, including one of his close friend, Brutus. The scene took place when Caesar arrived at the Senate, in the Theatre of Pompey. Caesar was stabbed 23 times in the curia, a court at the back of the Theatre.
27 September 2021
The drive from Florence to Rome passed quickly and we checked into Colosseo Flats – very reasonable priced given its location right next to the Colosseum, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world, despite its age. Amazing.
We did a tour of the entire area and the underground – never ceases to inspire awe in me…
The Underground was particularly interesting – one can just imagine what it must have been like for the Gladiators – boiling hot, stench of sweat, blood, sawdust and animals – and the sounds …. incredible.
We visited the catacombs which were fascinating. The Catacombs of St Callixtus (Catacombe di San Callisto) are the largest in Rome and the most visited and most notable for containing the Crypt of the Popes, which once contained the tombs of several popes from the 2nd to 4th centuries.
A rather sinister place in Rome is the Capuchin Crypt (Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini). The crypts are famous for the chapels full of bones and skulls!! You are not supposed to take photos but I managed to sneak some (But I also bought postcards to make up for it!).
The Pantheon is a former Roman temple and, since 609 AD, a Catholic church in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated c. 126 AD.
It was great just wondering through the cobbled streets to the piazzas and taking it all in …
The Trevi Fountain is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others. The myth, originating in 1954 with the movie “Three Coins in the Fountain,” goes like this: If you throw one coin: you will return to Rome. If you throw two coins: you will fall in love with an attractive Italian. If you throw three coins: you will marry the person that you met. Tourists throw over 1.5 million EUR into the fountain every year! In 2001, the mayor decided that the money should be collected for a local charity to put a stop to the frequent attempts by people to steal coins from the fountain. Since then, the loose change that ends up in the fountain has been donated each year to Rome’s Catholic charity Caritas which helps the poor and homeless.
All three couples had agreed that this would be date night and we all headed off to find our own spots for a romantic dinner…
Hilariously, we glanced up and saw that Ben and Charlotte had also come to eat at the exact same spot! They then spotted us too! When we discussed the menu afterwards we discovered that we had ordered exactly the same courses as each other!
We continued with our night stroll… and had a quick drink
We hired scooters and whizzed around the Colosseum like lunatics screaming Silenzo Bruno … hilarious!
A wonderful end to our stay in Rome!
September 2016 – Sascha Hen Weekend
Charlotte and I were delighted to be asked to join Sascha on herHen Weekend in Rome. Caitlyn was still 17 so unable to come – but Sascha kindly treated er to a Beyonce Concert instead! It was a lovely group of girls including Yvonne and Jame’s Mom. We enjoyed fine food and wine, went sight seeing, went to the Beach and Nightclub and had a wonderful weekend.
The beach was an unexpected treat!
The Club was also great fun.
Charlotte and I stayed on a few days and did a Fiat 500 tour which is highly recommended! We circumnavigated the Colosseum, went to to some ancient baths and Eataly…great fun. We stayed at the Rome Cavallieri which provided the most DIVINE complimentary Gelato! It has great views of the city, fantastic swimming pools and fine dining. Highly recommended.
1996
Back in the 19990s when we flew back to South Africa we would so on the cheapest flights possible – usually Al Italia where we would sit at the back along with all the Smokers! Not that much has changed in Rome!
Go to: Florence
Go to: Italy
Go to: Sorrento
Go to: Italy Roadtrip
