Rome II

We sampled McDonald's in Italy while in Rome. It wasn't that good, bought from the McDonald's next to the central train station (not the outlet inside the station itself), must avoid McDonald's while in Italy in the future:

Yes we checked out the Coliseum in case I haven't mentioned that before, this pic shows how it sits alongside Constantine's arch:

Then a nice view of the Coliseum coming down from the hill Nero's golden home sits on:

Inside the structure, my daughter dryly noted the use of 2,000 year old scaffolding (not), oh and a modern concrete batching plant outside as well. In other words constant work is ongoing to keep the structure from falling down - suggestion: throw the cars out from the vicinity, that might help:

We checked out the place it is said Julius Caesar was cremated in the Forum, people place coins and other offerings there, no idea why they do that:

We took in other sights, such as the Trevi Fountain, and noted the large volume of souvenirs connecting the fountain with Audrey Hepburn's film, Roman Holiday. No surprises guessing the age of the visitors:

A short walk then to the Pantheon, the absolute highlight of our whole trip:

The famous ceiling:

And the drain holes in the floor to take away the water that falls through that hole at the top:

People seem to forget to walk around the outside of the building, just to see how old the structure is:

We then visited Vatican City, walking there from the Pantheon, and the next day for a second time by taking the hop on/hop off bus which commenced its journey right outside our hotel. By using the bus we had a lot of time to see the Vatican Museum:

Walking back from Vatican City we came upon the Largo di Torre Argentina and its Roman Republican temples. Many believe this is the location of the assassination of Julius Caesar. This is not well promoted by the Italians and the sign explaining the site is very poor:

Then heading in the general direction of the hotel, came up close and personal with the Circus Maximus:

Then on the next day we get off the hop on/hop off bus at their stop on the hill to the right, to get a view of the Circus Maximus from that vantage point and head to the Bocca della Verita or Mouth of Truth, as my daughter is obsessed with the thing. Initially we couldn't find it and that was because guide books put us badly wrong. The simple explanation to find this; from the hop on/hop off bus-stop at the Circus Maximus, head down the hill in the direction the traffic is travelling. Go over the first street, then keep going straight, the Mouth of Truth is on the next corner inside the building on the corner, the entrance just around the corner on your right shoulder.

That was fun, daughter didn't lose her hand. Then back on the bus and off to the Vatican Museum. Interesting, learnt that Raphael is much better than Michelangelo and that the Sistine Chapel ceiling is totally overrated. Another tourist trap. Though on one of the displays I did read that there is no proof at all that Christians were fed to the lions by the Romans. Thank you Vatican, I knew that, and finally comes confirmation from people with a vested interest in saying the opposite.

The Vatican Museum has a lot of really old stuff, such as Egyptian pieces 5,000 years BC:

5,000 BC are those little pieces in the middle of the pic. That's old. The Vatican Museum is better laid out but English did evaporate at times, though not as often as with Italian Museums. The museum can be beautiful:

But the exit staircase is treacherous, watch out:

Outside, the Vatican was having some festival for agriculture: