BigWeather's Blog

We woke up at 8a and grabbed breakfast at the hotel.  Left the hotel at about 10:15a for a quick walkabout.  As we had only until 11a before we had to be back at the hotel we walked to the nearby Piazza del Quirinale, home to a fountain from 1818 and an obelisk moved from the Campus Martius.  We continued on past Trevi Fountain to the Column of Marcus Aurelius, a 97 foot tall column erected by 193AD celebrating victory in the Danubian wars.  The carvings were amazing and showed a variety of things from soldiers to civilians to boats on the Danube.  There were small slits in the stone all the way up — the column itself contained a spiral staircase.

Once back at the hotel we checked out, leaving our luggage with the hotel and taking only a backpack with us to Vienna.  We waited in the lobby / bar area of the hotel until noon when the car to FCO airport picked us up.  The driver was great and spoke excellent English as he had lived on Long Island for a couple of years.  This allowed us to carry on an extensive conversation about topics like Rome traffic versus that of other cities and also guns in America versus other countries.  Along the route we passed the Circus Maximus (with stage still set up for David Gilmour including protective screening so people couldn’t get a free concert) and the absolutely massive Baths of Caracalla which were built from 212 to 217AD and covered 1.1 million square feet.  Impressive!

On arrival at FCO we checked in at Austrian Airlines (after some initial confusion on where to go) quickly.  Security was also a breeze and we headed for the gates.  We got a quick lunch, myself eating cheese pizza and Gentta a cheese and ham pizza (tuscana).  Chased it down with some coffee gelato while Genetta had some chips and water.  The restroom had toilets with seats that sprung up automatically so it was impossible to do #1 with the seat down — brilliant!

On boarding the plane for our 3:05p flight we noted that classical music was playing, similar to the flight on the Indian plane in January which played sitar music.  It was pleasant and the flight went very smoothly.  We got some decent views of the Italian countryside but due to where we were sitting didn’t get a good look at Rome or Ostia.  Sadly clouds socked in most of the trip over the Alps, clearing only as we got nearer Vienna and broke through the cloud deck.  The plane’s magazine did have a… somewhat suggestive… photograph in it that made me giggle.  Clearly the Austrians are a little less uptight about some topics than America is!  I also had a hazelnut wafer cookie on the flight that was actually very tasty.

We landed about 4:30p and a car was there to pick us up.  Didn’t have to go through customs or anything and as we had no bags to pickup we sailed through the airport.  The short fifteen minute drive to Vienna was pleasant though the driver did not speak much English so conversation was limited.  Did see a billboard with “Achtung!” on it, immediately made me think of the old C64 game “Castle Wolfenstein”.  The weather was much, much cooler than Rome — in the high 60s to 70F versus Rome’s mid-90s and the clouds began to break up a little which was great.

We got to the Appartement-Hotel an der Riemergasse right at 5p and checked in.  It was a very efficient process and the lady at the desk helped us get tickets for the Mozart string quartet at the Mozarthaus for that evening.  I hadn’t reserved ahead of time as I was worried that any delays getting to Vienna would have us miss the concert, and couldn’t do the other two nights we were in Vienna as those were days off for the quartet.  Was so happy things seemed to be working out!

Went up the cool old-timey elevator with iron caging to our apartment.  We were very pleased with the apartment, multiple bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, large bedroom, etc.  Even a chocolate with Mozart’s likeness and some water (sparkling and still).  We immediately set out for an ATM and then ate at McDonalds as we were very pressed for time.  We both had large fries and a small Coke while Genetta had a McChicken and I had a Big Mac.  Wasn’t happy to pay a half-euro to use the restroom, but at least they were clean.  In fact, we were struck by how clean — and empty-feeling — Vienna was.  The people seemed to keep to themselves much more than in Rome, like they were in their own world.  I’m still not sure which I prefer.

The Mozarthaus was a very tiny room belonging to a small Teutonic church.  It was where Mozart first played when he arrived in Vienna in 1781.  The room was opulently decorated.  A small stage with four chairs, music stands, and a lamp were in the front of the room.  Six rows of about ten or twelve chairs each faced the stage, backed by two large windows that let in the evening light.  A gorgeous chandelier hung above.  It was a very intimate space.

The quartet came in and took their places.  The first violin was a white man with a ponytail.  He did most of the talking, first in German then in English, rocking back and forth as he spoke.  The 2nd violin was an Asian woman, the viola a white woman, and the cello a white man with glasses and hair in his eyes.  They were all dressed in Mozart era (late 1700s) dress, all sporting long coats and frilly neckerchiefs.  They played Mozart and Haydn.  They were amazing!  In fact, I didn’t nod off even once during the hour — that’s quite the feat for me, especially given how exhausted I was!

Leaving the Mozarthaus we wandered to Domkirche St. Stephan, St. Stephen’s Cathedral.  It was magnificent with an amazing tiled roof and intricate stone work around windows and a clock.  The square the cathedral was centered in, Stephansplatz, had a mix of office buildings and stores, including a large gift shop with a dizzying array of postcards and magnets.  We dutifully bought some of each.

We ducked into the cathedral for a few minutes.  Tons of votive candles flickered in the near darkness while a service was being delivered in German.  It was very… haunting?

Next we got some gelato at Zanoni and Zanoni.  It was OK.  Genetta got some apfelstrudel which she enjoyed.  I had a few juvenile teehee moments at seeing words with the phrase “fahrt” in them — einfahrt, ausfahrt, gut fahrt!  Genetta asked me to grow up, haha.

Headed north towards the river (a small offshoot of the Danube) and got some noodles from a place called Happy Noodles.  Genetta had chicken and I had red curry chicken — perhaps not the brightest move on my part.  Tasty though!  Headed back to the room to upload pictures and blog.  The apartment had an amazing Internet connection, far better than the Hotel Bolivar’s.  Yay!

Awoke about 8a and went upstairs for breakfast — eggs, hot dog sausages, lemon cake, and coffee.  Quite good.  Left the room about 10:00a and headed up Via Nazionale towards Roma Termini.  As Genetta wasn’t to arrive until 11:40a I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the church at the end of Via Nazionale that incorporated parts of the absolutely massive Baths of Diocletian (which could accommodate up to three thousand people at once) into its structure.  Not only that, a couple of adjacent structures were directly derived from the ancient marvel.

Turning right towards Termini there was a row of semi-permanent corrugated metal stands selling books, albums, and the like.  One of the stands had historical comics (in Italian, of course).  One called Alix set during the Roman Empire caught my eye.  I had to wait for what seemed like ever for the seller to finish talking with another guy but eventually got my chance to engage him in conversation.

While his English was a little rough it was a dang sight better than my Italian and we managed to have a conversation.  We talked about historical comics (including a WWII pulp one that he favors) for a bit and when asked he’d never heard of Vasco, a French comic set in Middle Ages Italy that I’d like to find more copies of.  I decided to buy all three Alix for 20 euros — not sure if it is a great deal but it’s far less than the MSRP and I was happy.  One is about Spartacus, another about ancient Roman Egypt, and the last about barbarians and the Roman Empire.

Books in hand, I headed to Termini, getting there about 11:20a.  Parts of the terminal were under construction so I couldn’t stand right at her arrival platform.  Luckily, however, we were able to find each other after a small delay.  We took a taxi back to the room at the Hotel Bolivar and got her luggage squared away then headed to Le Lanterne, a restaurant not far from the room.  Genetta had spaghetti al cabonara and strawberries with whipped cream while I had the linguine al funghi porcini.  Mine wasn’t great — the mushrooms were a little slimy and the noodles kinda hard.  Oh well, can’t win them all.  Besides, nothing a little gelato couldn’t fix!  Genetta had dark chocolate and oreo while I went with my favorite coffee.

Headed back to the room and took a taxi across the Tiber to the suburbs just northwest of Rome to visit VIGAMUS, a video game museum.  I was kind of ruined and sculptured out at this point and so was Genetta — we figured we’d relax and go to the video game museum, a bookstore specializing in role-playing games, and a comic book / book store, all in the same area.

A note to anyone going to VIGAMUS — it is hard to spot.  It is in the basement of a building and one needs to look out for the banner above.  After descending a flight of stairs we came upon a very small room with a counter and a few things for sale (sadly no magnets and the books were only in Italian).  Beyond that were three or four rooms with displays containing various computers and consoles as well as games.  There was also a special exhibition room and a larger room for people to give lectures and presentations.  Finally, there were a few rooms with consoles, computers, and arcade games set up for play.

The walls were decorated in theme, lots of video game art and characters.  While small it left a good impression on me.  There was a broad selection of computers and consoles on display and it covered many of gaming’s earliest games — Infocom and other text adventures, Atari and Intellivision cartridges, a selection of PC games, etc.  There was also concept art from “Alice Madness Returns” and “Lollipop Chainsaw” and a few other games.  Large statues of Lara Croft, a character from Dark Souls (I think), and others were about.  There was some space dedicated to the video game crash of ’83 as well as the New Mexico landfill where many Atari 2600 cartridges (most famously E.T.) were buried.

The exhibition was Assassin’s Creed.  There were playable stations of all of the entries set up, surrounded by various collector’s editions stuff as well as a couple of large statues and some concept art.  Genetta and I had a blast playing through some of Assassin’s Creed II in their version of Florence, having just spent a lot of time there.  While it certainly captured the feel of Florence it most definitely didn’t feel very accurate.

There was little on display about the Odyssey2, sadly, and I thought that their treatment of the RPG genre was very light.  There was a single glass case with some Witcher series items in it but almost nothing else RPG-wise — no Wizardry, no Bard’s Tale, no Ultima (very surprising as Italy is known to be a hotbed of Ultima fandom), no Baldur’s Gate, etc.  Very surprising.

I was tempted by one of the books in the bookstore but as it was Italian I decided to pass.  I kind of regret that now, it was pretty neat.  Oh well.

Leaving VIGAMUS we walked the short distance to Avalon Roma, a bookstore selling role-playing games.  They had quite a bit of Savage Worlds stuff as well as The One Ring (which makes sense as the primary game design is by an Italian).  They also had a version of Dungeon World with nifty tabs that would make it a lot easier to flip through.  They also had Paizo adventure paths as single hardback books for 60 euros, a substantial savings over buying the six softcover books individually.  There was also a crazy-looking RPG based on modern horror in an alternate history that had among other source books one about the American South.  Their treatment of taboo subjects here in the US like the Klan was shocking.  Not that it was favorable to them or anything, just that it was in a RPG source book at all was eye-opening.

The proprietor, Vittorio (I think that is how it is spelled), was extremely nice and we talked at length about Italian RPGs like Kata Kumbus and this other one that was a grim dark treatment of Renaissance Europe with the walking dead.  Sadly as I don’t read Italian — and was accompanied by Genetta who wasn’t shy about reminding me about that fact — I had to pass on buying any books.  I did, however, buy a cloth map for Kata Kumbus that was basically Italy rearranged, even down to the place names.  A nifty souvenir!

Walked a little farther to Pocket 2000, a bookstore with comics, toys, etc.  It was stuffed wall to wall, to the point that it felt like a maze.  They had a good selection of stuff and plenty of historic comics including more Alix.  Once again Genetta reminded me that I don’t read Italian so we left without buying anything.

Headed south towards Vatican City where Genetta convinced me to get us a taxi.  Despite it being a Saturday there was crazy traffic and (because it was a Saturday) many pedestrians milling about.  We also saw a Lamborghini, though I suppose they aren’t crazy rare in their homeland!  We also saw a column erected by Marcus Aurelius before 193AD that I hoped to go back and see.

Back at the hotel we rested a bit then headed out to Ristorante Petrucci for dinner.  We had the garlic bread as an appetizer.  Genetta had veal with fries while I had spaghetti with bacon and tomato sauce that was quite decent.  Once back at the room around 8p we packed and I worked on the blog.  We then Facetimed with Michelle and wished Darby a good trip to London.  Finally I watched Italy and Germany play in Euro 2016 (1 to 1, Germany won on penalty kicks) while Genetta slept.  I finally turned in about midnight.

Woke up on my second solo day just after 8a, lounged about and finally ate breakfast around 10a.  Went light with a croissant, toast, and some tasty coffee.  Left the hotel at about 11a (which leads me to believe that maybe, just maybe, our always leaving the hotel later than I’d like wasn’t due to the family) and walked past Trevi Fountain.  It wasn’t running as it was being maintained, which led to a different photo opportunity.

Headed to the Piazza di Spagna, a plaza in front of the famed Spanish Steps.  In the middle of the plaza was a fountain shaped like a ship, Fontana della Barcaccia, erected in the 17th century.  On the plaza was also the home in which the poet John Keats died of tuberculosis at the young age of twenty-five.  Sadly the steps themselves were closed for cleaning, but I could still see the 16th century church Trinita dei Monti at the top with the Obelisco Sallustiano, an early Roman Empire obelisk crafted in imitation of the ancient (even at that time) Egyptian ones, in front.

Next I headed up quite a slope and some steps toward the Villa Borghese’s gardens.  On the way I took a picture of a palace with soldiers in front.  They motioned me towards them and asked me to delete the picture as they were concerned about security, which I did.  The gardens were quite peaceful and due to the trees cooler than walking about the streets of Rome.  There were many exotic plants, marble busts of many famous people, an arch, and fake looking Egyptian obelisks, temple facades, etc.  There was also a nice round pond with a fountain in the middle.

A short distance to the north was a more natural, irregularly shaped lake with a “temple” built in 1786, Tempio di Esculapio.  The temple was flanked by statues releasing water from tipped over urns which people renting boats rowed out to see.  It was quite peaceful.  Next I walked past a museum with modern art — kept on walking!  Also nearby were “academies” for Egyptian, Belgian, and Romanian studies and art.  The Egyptian Academy’s entrance was particularly neat, covered with hieroglyphs.

I finally arrived at the Villa Giulia, built by Pope Julius III in 1551-1553.  The grounds were nice with formal gardens and an elaborate covered walkway surrounding them.  The real treasure lay within, however, as the villa housed the largest collection of Etruscan artifacts in the world.  The Etruscans lived in central Italy (Tuscany and Lavio, north of Rome) from the 9th century BC to about 291BC when Rome conquered them.  Through many displays the museum described the various ages of Etruscan civilization and the huge influence that the Greeks had on them.  This was particularly apparent with their pottery, which shifted from having black figures to red figures just as Greek did.

The best known piece of Etruscan art was housed there, a sarcophagus depicting a husband and wife.  There were also a reconstruction of an Etruscan tomb that was really neat as well as several temple facades that were rebuilt with the original masonry.  One fascinating piece of art was a temple facade depicting “Seven Against Thebes”, a play by Aeschylus first performed in 467BC.  It even has one character, Tydeus, cracking open another’s (Melanippus) skull and feasting on his brains — ancient Walking Dead!  Also on display were chariot pieces, shields, spears, and other really interesting grave objects.

About 3p I headed back into the sunlight and south to Rome, passing through the north gate, the Porta del Popolo.  Beyond was the Piazza del Popolo, the center of which had one of the oldest obelisks in Rome, from Heliopolis and the time of Sety I.  Augustus had it moved to Rome and erected in the Circus Maximum in 10BC but it was relocated to the plaza in 1589.  Amazing.

Walked back past the Spanish Steps and near Trevi Fountain, getting back to the room around 4:15p.  I Facetimed with Michelle some and learned that she and Addison had had quite the time with customs in Charlotte.  I goofed around some, enjoying a siesta to rest my feet, Facetiming with Genetta as well to confirm her arrival the next day.  Headed to dinner at about 6:30p or so to a place called Melo’s.  They weren’t open, however, as it was quite early for Italian dinner, so I wandered around the forum a bit as well as visited my favorite tower, Torre delle Milizie.

Finally I ate at about 7:15p.  It didn’t go so well.  First, I thought the water was asking if I wanted a glass with my water, I was like “sure, of course…” but he had asked if I wanted gas — carbonated water.  Blech!  I also felt awkward eating spaghetti in the near-empty restaurant, I guess I never learned how to eat it properly as the proprietor took pity on me and showed how Italians eat it — by twirling the pasta with a fork on top of a spoon.  I never really got the hang of it.  Kind of an awkward meal all around, but not that bad tasting.

Stopped by and got some gelato from the place adjacent to the restaurant but even that wasn’t great.  Headed back to the room by 8:30p and blogged and watched soccer (Wales 3 – Belgium 1) and listened to music until 3a (why?!) — their internet still sucked!

As Michelle and Addison were leaving this morning we awoke at 3:15a.  The next hour and change were a blur, getting them up and out for the 4:30a taxi pickup that would take them to the airport.  Returning to my room I read up on Ostia Antica and talked a bit with the hotel’s night desk man about how to go about getting there.  Went back to sleep about 6a, awakening at 8a.  After a quick shower and breakfast I set out on my solo adventure just before 10a.

My first stop was a barber as my beard had grown quite a bit during the two weeks in Italy and was itching like crazy, especially as I was back in the heat of Rome.  He didn’t speak a lick of English but I managed to get a shave (a rough one, a bit of blood here and there).  Still, a shave is a shave and it felt great to be rid of the beard.

Walked past the Colosseum from a new vantage point as well as the Arch of Constantine and Palatine Hill.  A bit further lay the massive Circus Maximus, its far end set up for the second night of a Pink Floyd (at least Gilmour) concert.

After a short walk along tree lined avenues and houses covered in all manner of flowering bushes I saw the Piramide di Caio Cestio, or Pyramid of Cestius, a tomb built in 12BC in the style of the pyramids in Egypt (which were quite ancient by then — in fact the Pyramid of Cestius is still closer to the present day than the pyramid it copied by almost 600 years!).  It stood 125 feet high and 100 feet a side at the base and was quite impressive with its shining white marble facade!  Across the street was the Porta San Paolo, one of the main gates into Rome built in the third century.

Navigating the fairly heavy traffic I crossed the street and entered the Piramide train station.  It wasn’t nearly as streamlined as the Termini station across town.  I waited in a very long line and it was clear everyone was just a bit frustrated.  Finally managed to get tickets and headed out to the platform area.  I met a small group of English students also hoping that they were going about getting to Ostia Antica correctly.  The train arrived, but at an entirely different track, so the entire group of us shifted to the new platform and boarded.  It was an uneventful train ride lasting about a half hour, passing through the southwestern suburbs of Rome and headed to Ostia and Lido by the sea.

Arriving at Ostia Antica I used my offline Google Maps map to navigate.  Crossed the highway via a pedestrian footbridge and came almost immediately upon Castello di Guilio II, a charming walled fortification area with a church and nice public fountain (where I dutifully filled up).  The papal fortification was built between 1483 and 1486.  One nice thing about getting away from Rome is that there were very few tourists milling about, only two at the Castel.

After a short rest I headed to Ostia Antica, a vast area — seventy acres — of ruins.  Like the castle there were few tourists to be seen.  Oftentimes I was alone among the ruins, hearing only birds and crickets and the occasional airplane flying over to land at the airport across the Tiber (there’s a hexagonal lake there that is actually the remains of an ancient harbor).  After buying a guidebook I walked down the ancient road to the settlement, the major port for Rome.  Two thousand years ago Ostia sat on the shore, now it was inland over two miles!  The flagstones were worn smooth and rutted by ancient cart traffic.  Surrounding the road were ancient tombs, forbidden from being built in the town limits.

Entering the town proper the first sight was Terme di Nettuno, the Baths of Neptune, a large bath house for the inhabitants of Ostia.  Up some stairs was a great vantage point overlooking not only the ruin but also some impressive mosaics, some of which were protected from the elements with Gore-Tex.  Behind the baths was Caserma dei Vigili, a large complex that hosted about 400 vigiles, men charged with preventing and extinguishing fires in Ostia.

After that was the Piazzale delle Corporazioni, Plaza of the Corporations, which originally was a square of shopfronts surrounding an open green space containing Tempio Di Cerere, the Temple of Ceres.  What was really fascinating about the plaza was that there were mosaics in front of each shop depicting the purpose or goods of that shop.  Unfortunately some tourists chose to disregard the ropes and copious signs preventing them from stepping on them for pictures.  Grrrr!

I next headed to the adjacent Teatro di Ostia, Theater of Ostia, a semi-circular set of stone bleachers surrounding a stage.  Pretty amazing sitting on the bleachers imagining theater-goers doing the same nearly two millennia prior.  I was blessed with a gorgeous day — puffy clouds, fairly cool, and a light breeze.

Moving on I entered the main forum area of Ostia and the adjacent Capitolium.  By this time, however, I was getting quite hungry so headed north toward the river to find lunch.  The cafeteria was a buffet-style affair.  I had lasagna, zucchini, and an orange Fanta.  Not bad at all!  Headed to the adjacent bookstore and bought a magnet.  Stopped by the bathrooms and… nope.  No seats, no go.

I had read in Rick Steve’s about a row of ancient latrines (no, not for me to actually use!) that I wanted to see so I set about exploring the western half of Ostia Antica looking for it.  Along the way I met some young students from California and some English people but neither had seen the latrines.  Looking back I imagine it was a fairly odd thing to ask “Hey, nice to meet you total stranger — have you seen any ancient toilets?!”  Anyhow, along the way I saw some temples, various middle- and upper-class homes (including one of the earliest examples of a home with a central hallway), and the like.  Some had surprisingly well-preserved mosaics.  I saw a glimpse of the Tiber on the northern edge of town.  The extreme western part of the town gave way to hay fields with large bales.

Finally while exploring the baths in Ostia’s forum I stumbled upon the latrines.  Declaring victory, I headed to the sculpture museum near the cafeteria and bookstore.  While in a small space it was completely packed with amazing sculpture including some I could swear I had seen in textbooks.  By this time I had to admit defeat and use the restroom, ugh!  As it was getting toward evening I headed back to the train.  While relatively uneventful, I witnessed a young Italian guy hitting on a Polish teenager with her mother, opening with “What’s the time?” and going from there.  They were in Rome on pilgrimage.  Once they got off the train he looked about, spotted his next target, and opened with “What’s the time?”

Once back in Rome I walked past the pyramid and along the city walls to the Tiber.  I passed a small church (with a very impressive bell tower or campanile) containing the famous Bocca della Verita, or Mouth of Truth, but did not enter.  Legend has it that telling a lie with one’s hand in the mouth would result in the hand being bitten off.  Next I walked past the Tempio di Ercole Vincitore, the Temple of Hercules Victor, and Tempio di Portuno, the Temple of Fortuna Virilis.

Next visited the impressive Teatro Marcello, Theater of Marcellus, an interesting incorporation of the ruins of the ancient theater (built in 13BC) with a residence built atop in the 16th century.  Right next to the theater was the Temple of Apollo Sosiano, or rather the three remaining columns of the temple.  It was quite beautiful in spite of — or due to? — having only three columns.

As it was full on dusk I navigated east to the plaza in front of the large Altar of the Fatherland and from there to the hotel.  After a brief rest — I had walked seventeen miles, or 34,000 steps! — I headed to the Public House at 9:30p.  There I had water and a fair bacon cheeseburger.  The service wasn’t great (I had ordered nachos without guacamole but had to send it back when it came absolutely smothered in it) but it had an interesting atmosphere.  Watched some of the Poland versus Portugal Euro 2016 match while there.

Headed to get some gelato at 11p and got called out by the guy working there as a repeat customer.  Ooops!  Once back at the room I talked with Genetta via Facetime, texted Michelle, read up on some ideas for the next day, and went through the very frustrating process of transferring photos.  Finally went to bed at about 3a (stupid, stupid, stupid!).

We woke up about 7a and grabbed breakfast at the hotel.  After many days of Continental breakfasts it was nice to have eggs, bacon, and Vienna sausages again.  For Michelle and Addison’s last full day we decided to see a few of the sights we’d skipped during our earlier stay in Rome.  As it was Saint Peter’s Day some stuff was closed, thankfully nothing on the list to see.

We set out about 10a, heading first to Trevi Fountain.  Though Michelle and I had seen it shortly after arriving in Rome Addison hadn’t seen it, and none of us had seen it during the day.  It was not quite as crowded as at night but still quite busy.  There was a couple that had just been married there.  It was quite hot so we didn’t linger.

We headed west towards the Pantheon, passing by Il Tempio di Andriano (Temple of Hadrian) first.  Only eleven columns of the ancient temple, built in 145AD by his adopted son, remain and had been incorporated into a 17th century papal palace that eventually became a bank.  Ah, recycling!  Arrived at the Pantheon at 11:05a but it was closed until 11:45a due to a liturgy.  We opted to seek out lunch quickly as it was to close for good at 12:45p due to the public holiday.  Ate at a pizza restaurant, Michelle had a cheese pizza, myself a mushroom pizza, and Addison had Angus steak and roasted potatoes — that he didn’t care for much.  Also dining was a British guy who was in Rome for only a few hours before flying out after being on a western Mediterranean cruise.

We arrived back at the Pantheon to a medium line that was thankfully fast-moving so getting in with time to enjoy before closing was no issue.  The temple is amazing, built around 125AD as a temple to all gods.  What is remarkable is how well preserved it is.  Unlike the vast majority of Roman ruins this one was never abandoned, having been in continuous use for nearly nineteen hundred years!  As it was in use and was a Christian church for most of that time it wasn’t left to neglect nor plundered for marble and other resources.  Its beautiful marble floor of yellow, white, and red marble — from Egypt, Numidia, and other locales — is intact.

Its amazing free standing dome (still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome) is a marvel at 142 feet high and wide.  At its apex is the oculus, a large hole that lets in light that shines down as a brilliant shaft of light.  It also lets in rain; this isn’t a problem as the marble floor has little drainage holes throughout.  About the perimeter of the church were tombs of the first two kings of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto) as well as the Renaissance painter Raphael.

Leaving the Pantheon we headed northwest toward the Pont Sant’Angelo.  We passed through the Piazza Navona, a large plaza built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian built in 80AD.  A fountain topped by a Roman obelisk from about that time stood in front of the impressive church Sant’Agnese in Agone.  On the way we saw an amazing toy metal soldier store, sadly closed due to the holiday.  We also made a pit stop at a cafe for bathrooms and had cokes and a chocolate cookie.  The neighborhood was quiet and artsy, a welcome respite from the crowd of tourists near Trevi and the Pantheon.

Crossed Pont Sant’Angelo, built in the early 100s for access to Hadrian’s mausoleum at Castel Sant’Angelo.  It was quite impressive as it spanned the wide Tiber and had a series of angel sculptures grace both sides.  Castel Sant’Angelo was impressive, an imposing structure originally intended as Hadrian’s mausoleum but later became a papal fortress, residence, and prison.  A secret passage to the Vatican helped Pope Clement VII escape the 1527 sack of Rome (though the entire Swiss guard contingent left behind did not fare so well…).  We didn’t do much at the Castel, being a bit museumed out.  We left shortly after Michelle was done going to the restroom and headed northeast along the right bank of the Tiber.

It was a very pleasant walk as it was amply shaded by trees.  We saw a guy fishing with an extremely long pole (nearly twenty feet, it looked like) as well as small boats at docks along the grassy riverbank.  We passed a very impressive building called the Palace of Justice where the Italian equivalent of our Supreme Court sits.  There was also a long row of book and coffee stands.  Crossing the Pont Cavour we emerged back on the left bank of the Tiber near our next destination.

The Ara Pacis, or Altar of Peace, was built by Augustus as part of his reorienting Roman life to be more cult god centered.  Fragments of the altar had turned up for years but it wasn’t until the 1800s that the dots were connected and there was an effort to get the pieces from all the places it had been dispersed to — Paris, Florence, the Vatican, etc.  The main part of the altar was discovered under a theater in the early 1900s.  It wasn’t until the 1930s, however, that they could finally excavate by using liquid nitrogen to freeze the water seeping in from the tiber as the hole was 27 meters (nearly 100 feet!) deep.

Mussolini made the altar a centerpiece of his new Roman Empire and built a pavilion for it.  In the 2000s, however, a new building was built around it.  Designed by an American architect, Italians are quite divided on it.  It is a very modern-looking building with glass all around allowing a view of the altar within.  It reminded me a lot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s similar structure surrounding their small Egyptian temple.

The altar itself was really cool.  Guests could walk up in it and all around it.  There was a decent intro film and some models of how the altar and surrounding area looked in Roman times.  The altar, now only carved white marble, was once brightly painted.  Below the main floor was the exhibition floor.  On exhibition were photos by Japanese realism photographer Domon Ken.  He was active during both pre- and post-World War II Japan and it was fascinating to see the change in life of that country during that period.  His later work consisted of photographing beautiful shrines — absolutely jaw dropping.

Leaving the Ara Pacis we passed a tree-filled mound of dirt and stone that was Augustus’ Mausoleum.  It wasn’t restored at all and was neat to see in a ruined state through a fence (that sported odd modern “art” pieces attached to it).  We stopped at a nearby gelato shop and got shakes — Michelle had strawberry, Addison oreo, and myself coffee (of course).  We walked south past the Spanish steps (empty as they were being cleaned and renovated) and down some fashion streets selling ties and the like.

Got some more water from a fountain shortly before returning to Hotel Bolivar for siesta and some blogging.  Awoke and headed out for dinner about 7:30p or so, getting some cash along the way.  We went to the place we went to our first night in Italy, Hostaria Al Boschetto.  Michelle had lasagna, myself spaghetti al carbonara, and Addison pork fillets and roasted potatoes.  We had “garlic” bruschetta as an appetizer.  Afterwards we tried to find some snacks for them for the trip back but they were all strange brands so we passed.  Did get some gelato on the way back, however!  Once back at the room we packed until midnight when we went to bed.