Back in Rome

We've been taking it easy in Rome for the past few days while we've been getting our strength back.  We haven't used our Roma Passes, but we've had great value from Hop on/Hop off bus tickets.

The Hotel Corona is in a good location, close to the station, all transport and shopping.  It's in an area where we can walk around and just look at the buildings and piazzas.  We're only a block or so from the Opera Theatre and some museums.  The nearby Piazza Viminale has a fountain with a carving of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, and the She-Wolf who raised them.  We have a good restaurant next door and plenty of others nearby for variety.  The weather has been hot - mid to high 30sC, so we tend to venture out in the morning, then hole up in the hotel for the afternoon, and venture out again in the evening.

This morning we boarded the green Archeobus for an excursion out of the city to the Via Appia Antica (The Appian Way).  It was lovely to get out of the city and into the trees and parkland.  We passed through the gate and along the narrow, cobbled road with a stone wall on each side.  We passed by the Mausoleum of Romulus and into the Catacombs area where over 75,000 people are buried in over 12kms of catacombs.  No burials were permitted within the city walls of ancient Rome.  Undertakers, who wore red hats, were only allowed to enter the city at night.

















Recycling is alive and well.  This shed on the Via Appia Antica is built of "pre-loved" materials, including broken marble statues.

We got off the bus near the Circus Maximus, where the Romans staged horse races, and walked to the Aventino, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, which has some lovely gardens and parkland.  Then we walked until we found a bus stop near the Palazzo Venezzia which is an impressive white marble building.  Built as a palace,  it later became the Venetian Embassy, then the Austrian Embassy and now is a museum.  All bus routes seem to lead to this majestic building and we can see the statues on top of it from everywhere.

Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain - another WOW!! moment.  It's huge - and there were plenty of people around taking photos and just enjoying its grandeur.  From there we walked back to our hotel - hot and sweaty work again.

In the evening we boarded the red 110bus again just to do the route in the cool of the afternoon and in different light before dinner.  Rome is a very picturesque city with plenty of tree lined streets.  Some streets had rows of white, pink and red oleander trees all out in flower.  Other streets were tree lined avenues with the branches touching overhead.  Of course, being a densely populated city, many streets were rows of buildings too.

We often think of Roman history as dating from about 400BC, but Rome was settled well before then, with some archaeological finds dating back to 1,400BC.