Ancient Rome

Rather unexpectedly (or at least not as a part of my original plan) I got two and a half days in Rome.

On the first day, Jennifer and I went to view the temple site (see earlier post). She left early the next morning, and I bought a hop on/hop off ticket for Rome….and then spent nearly all day at one drop off point–the Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Coliseum.

For one who studied Latin in high school, this was a treat.

(My first attempt at a panoramic shot on my phone camera.)

Some scenes from the Forum…

 

A rather saucy bird was pestering a young boy, who, when he waved his coat at it, jumped a few feet away and looked so nonchalant.

The boy was not laughing, but I did and took a shot (not zoomed in either, so the bird was not afraid of me either.) How you get food from millions of tourist I guess!

Playing with the camera to get some shots….

I got rather intrigued by the arches and the framing by the arches of other scenes.

I took a few photos of a church from the Middle Ages built over some of the ruins…(couldn’t take pictures inside of the best preserved mosaics and frescoes).

The second attempt at panoramic from the top of the ramp above the church, and I think I selected wide-angle instead….or it was so long the camera condensed it into this shot.

And from the Palatine Hill

The remains of the once rich, power, and famous….just a pile of stones (but still there!)

In a small museum on the Palatine Hill, they had a representation of the type of houses lived in by pre-Roman people. It looks a little like a Samoan fale, eh?

My first good view of the Coliseum was a morning look  from the outside when I first got off the hop on/hop off bus.

I had to wait until 2:30 pm to get in, though, so the rest of the photos were in mid-day sun.

I had stopped to help a couple of young ladies from some place in Scandinavia get a picture of themselves, and they offered to take mine.

Where the crosses are now (a bit small in this photo, but in the center) is where the emperors used to sit….something I overheard from someone else’s guide.

In full sun, another panoramic shot.