Tour of Rome continues …

Tour of Rome continues …

First stop …. the Colosseum … (thro’ the coach windscreen)

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Group piccie first !!!  🙂

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… then a wander through Rome’s greatest amphitheatre commissioned by Emporer Vespasian in AD 72, which hubby and I had done extensively a few days before.  But .. it was interesting listening to our local guides explanation of the history and life as it was way back then.  My post refers :   http://momsmeanderings.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/colosseum-rome/ 

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Holes were for scaffolding ..

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It was extremely hot, so hubby and I found a shady spot on a huge stone block and ‘people watched’ !!!  I still couldn’t resist taking a few photographs though 😉  ..

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Pietro, our coach driver, took a round-about route to our next stop, Piazza del Campidoglio on Capitoline Hill, driving back across the Tiber River, and crossing it again after passing Tiber Island – in the middle of the river ..

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On the way … Smart cars are everywhere in Rome!!   Absolutely ideal for squeezing between cars and parking !

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Buildings are built one top of another, including on and incorporating ancient columns  …

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This was our stop … the Cordonata leading up to Piazza del Campidoglio.  On the left are the marble Aracoeli Steps (built in 1348) leading to Santa Maria in Aracoeli …

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Cordonata –  similar to a flight of stairs, but allows the transit of horses and donkeys.   Going up …

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… going down ..

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Huge statues of Castor and Pollux stand at the top of the Cordonata ..

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Michelangelo designed the geometric paving (in 1538) and the façades of the buildings ..   below : Palazzo Senatorio, ‘splendid Renaissance seat of the city government, built on the ruins of the ancient Tabularium’ ..

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Palazzo Nuovo was made into a public museum in 1734 …

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Our local guide with colourful-scarf-attached-to-an-aerial.  We took refuge in the shade of the Capitoline Museums where there are collections of art and ancient sculpture including the statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a replica of which stands in the centre of the piazza ..

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Emporer Marcus Aurelius …

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IMG_4901Ruins of the ancient city walls ..

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Symbol of Rome ..  so the legend goes ..  Lupa, the she-wolf, rescued Romulus and Remus from the Tiber River and brought them to Capitoline Hill …

IMG_4897 (2) Following our guide to the right of Palazzo Senatorio …

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… to a vantage point with a magnificent view of the Forum.   Fortunately hubby and I had walked around the Forum a few days before – my post refers:

http://momsmeanderings.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/walking-through-the-roman-forum/

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A bay laurel tree stands up here ..   (laurel wreath : a symbol of peace and victory)

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Back on the coach for a walk-about with our local-guide-with-colourful-scarf-attached-to-an-aerial in the city

Trafalgar Tour : Best of Italy : June 2013

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