Arriving in Rome was a bit confusing, we thought we needed to buy bus passes, but after losing one and then not being able to find the bus we just got the old google map out and found that we were only blocks from our next hotel. Caesar House residenze. This place was so convenient, only one block from the Forum and Coliseum as well as very close to Prezzi fountain and many other cool things to do in Rome. Our host not only let us check in early but also let my kids store their luggage in my room as they had book alternate lodging. We then set out to see the stones and rubble as the many guide sellers called it, trying to convince us to buy a tour.
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| this is where the Emperor sat |
When I got home still so intrigued with the place I did some research and found that there is church called "Quo Vadis" that boasts of having actually footprints of Jesus in marble.
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| just to give you an idea how tall this structure was |
The statues above are in the garden of the Vestal Virgins, which was of interest to me because my all time favorite song is "a whiter shade of pale" and in it there is a line that mentions the vestal virgins. It turns out that they were a group of powerful women in ancient Rome that were chosen at a very young age to serve for 30 years. They had power to vote, own property and pass judgment on criminals. When they were done with their term they were given a generous retirement plus all their land they owned. Vesta was a Goddess that protected Rome and the Virgins job was to keep a flame burning at all times to honor Vesta.
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| the Coliseum |
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| Soldiers with guns |
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| the Rubbles |
Then there was the announcements that were blasted every so many minutes that said, "ATTENTION
THERE ARE PICKPOCKETS HERE, PLEASE KEEP YOUR BELONGINGS SAFE AT ALL TIMES" that bothered me and was basically a concern the entire trip. Which I could have done without. I wonder how do the Italian people manage on a day to day basis without feeling like they might be pickpocketed at any moment???
My kids left me as this was our last day in Italy and they had to catch a plane at a different airport. I was sad. Still overheated from the day, I laid on the marble floor of the hotel and was so thankful as I cooled my entire body down. I wasn't hungry and didn't really want to go out again so I watched TV for the first time in a week. I watched "Into the Storm" dubbed in Italian. It was funny to watch.
I woke up early and took a short walk around the neighborhood and saw more amazing architechture and artwork and wished we could have had one more day.
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| I collect unusual horse statues for my mantle.... |
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| Julius Caesar |
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| a Fountain |
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| Italia |
Back at the hotel, I had my last Italian breakfast of cappuccino, Italian croissants and fruit and was picked up by my driver Diego who took me to the airport. Fiumicino.
Rome INtl airport is classy, it just had a different feel to it. I finally got my Italy stamp in my passport and was on the plane to USA.
Ironically I sat by a young man named Salvatore from Philly. He had been visiting his cousins in Florence. I told him that my grandpas name was also Salvatore and that our family was from Cosenza and the town of San Giovanni inFiore. He said that was where his family was from as well and only a few miles away from San Giovanni. He agreed with our findings that Cosenza was very difficult to get to and that it would take a longer trip to do it, this somehow gave me some peace.
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