We stayed at the Sheraton while in Rome as they had secure car parking, late check out and shuttles to the center of the city.
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This is what 400,000 Lira ($215 US or $330 Australian) gets you for a night. Lucky we used our airline miles for it huh?
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The free shuttle bus from the Sheraton dropped us off a the Piazza Venezia which is basically right in the center of Rome.
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I found Ruth lounging around one of the fountains. |
It's not hard to just sit back and be over-awed by the ancient Roman builders workmanship and architectural detail.
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This magnificent building is the Victor Emanuel Monumenti in Piazza Venezia.
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From here it was around the corner...
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...past the Roman Forum...
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...time for a quick photo...
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...dodging rampant crazy Italian drivers...
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...to find probably the most famous of all Roman buildings, the Colosseum.
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Imagine, for a moment 2000 years ago, the Colosseum its heyday: 50,000 spectators; gladiators and animals packed into pens below the arena.
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Fight-to-the-death matches rivaling today’s major sporting spectaculars in intensity.
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The Colosseum ruins show the full grandeur of early Roman engineering.
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A wall section remains at full height covered by scaffolding.
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The Italians are trying to reverse the urban decay attributed to years of human interference and air pollution.
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It would have been better to be a spectator at the Colosseum than a participant.
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We have no idea what this is but it runs down the side of the Colosseum.
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A lot of the excavations of the ancient ruins are done by pick and shovel. These guys were right next to the Colosseum.
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Foro Romano or the Roman
Forum was the heart of the Republican Rome and center of
the Empire and extends to the northwest from
the Colosseum.
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Finding Via Sacra, the main
street, we strolled the wide expanse. We could only
imagine what the toga-clad patricians daily routine was.
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Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
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Paletine Hill overlooking Roman Forum
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A few still-standing columns helped us to orient ourselves but offer little in the way of what the buildings shape or use was.
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Via Sacra in the Foro Romano
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Another photo of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
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Can you imagine hard much hard work it took to be a stone mason back then?
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From what we learnt, when trying to put in a subway system, the Italians found more "layers" of ancient Rome.
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They are excavating the sites to find out more if there is more archaeological history to be found
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Traian's Column.
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A close up of Traian's Column.
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Who's this couple?
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