Rome (Part 1)

This city is the real deal.  There is so much to see that we can’t possibly see it all in the five days we are here, but we're giving it our best shot.  This place is..... unbelievable, impressive, breathtaking.  It's too much really.  An embarrassment of riches.  Roman this, Renaissance that, Caesar here, Michelangelo there.  
The highlights so far:

The Pantheon

We've joined the ranks of the suitably awed after our visit to the Pantheon, which was built around 27 AD.  The architecture is still incredible, with its huge dome and central opening (oculus), the only source of natural light.  The dome is the largest non reinforced concrete dome in the world....2000 years later! As you look at it, you can see a square pattern in the concrete, which was designed to make the concrete dome lighter.  We just stood there looking up at the ceiling with our jaws dropping to the floor...  

The Colosseum

You can see it rising above Rome as you approach it on foot.  You can't help but imagine it holding 40,000 people (at least!), cheering and stamping their feet to the gladiator fights and deaths.  Deserters and criminals were sentenced to death by being mauled by wild animals - in front of 40,000 screaming sadists.  Crowds and mobs can be ugly.  I imagine these games were often tense times for the rulers of Rome.  Done right they acted as a necessary pressure release valve, but done wrong and you've got an instant baying mob ready to riot.

What they got up to bends the mind. They built a fake whale that came up through the arena floor, opened its mouth and out came 50 bears! 10,000 wild beasts killed in one games.  Madness.  Stalls of people, senators, the Emperor, the underground cells for animals and fighters...you can imagine it all.
   
Walking to the Colosseum, we passed lots of touts trying to sell us various things, from kids toys, to umbrellas to selfie poles.  I think we might have been offered a selfie pole by about 100 different sellers.  Those things have really taken off.  John considered buying a gladiator outfit and sword for Finn, but I wasn’t sure how that would work out for young Wilf.  John reasoned that he would always give the thumbs up for mercy, after a suitably dramatic pause, but I'm not sure our little gladiator would follow instructions.  

Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum 
I’m embarrassed to admit that I really had no idea what Palatine Hill was all about, which made it all the more exciting when I did find out about it.  After visiting the Colosseum, we walked up to Palatine Hill and looked out over Rome from where it all began.  After doing some research on Wikipedia, it seems that people have been living here since 1000BC.  And, it was the site where Romulus and Remus were found by the shewolf Lupa.  Just another incredible part of Rome's history.  
After admiring the views from Palatine Hill, we wandered through the ruins of the Roman Forum, the heart of Ancient Rome, all the while imagining what it must have been like when kings, senators, dictators and emperors lived and died here.  

Campo de'Fiori

We are staying on one corner of the Campo de'Fiori.  The title means ‘meadow of flowers’, which is what this area was during the Middle Ages.  It is now a marketplace for vegetables and fish, which it has been since 1869.  The market stalls are surrounded by restaurants, delis and sandwich shops.  Our favourite is just around the corner - Forno Roscioli.  There's also a statue of a man who was burned alive in 1600 for heresy right in the middle of the Campo de'Fiori, one of many, just in case you get too comfortable eating gelato.  Rome, like a lot of these ancient cities, is soaked in blood. 

Time for a break and another sip of Italian wine  - Rome (Part 2) coming up soon.