If you'll pardon a little overlap with Katie's post, I'd like to go over the last few days. Saturday we arrived in our apartment at 8pm or so local time, did as little organization as possible, then collapsed. Sunday was for more sleeping, off and on, although I did venture out to pick up some groceries late in the evening.
Saturday, we slept in late - still heavy under jet lag, 1 pm here feels like 7 am. After a shower and some breakfast/lunch we made our way to the Notre Dame building to let our families know we had arrived safely. Afterward, we did a small walking tour of our end of the city and returned home for some dinner.
Tuesday and Wednesday was more walking, in all we made it through almost the whole city. There are plenty of things we haven't seen yet, but we've at least walked most of the city.
Here's the view out our window, down and to the right, with the river Tiber off in the distance.
Across the street there is a convent. The nuns wake early every morning and sing a monastic service of some kind at 6:30.
Down on the street, here's a shot looking away from the river. We live on Vicolo Maroni, a narrow, comfortable kind of street in the Trastevere neighborhood. Its older and a little less clean than the main part of the city across the river, but its a lot less touristy as well.
For Dad and other car fans. This is an Audi R8 supercar that was parked in the Piazza near our apartment.
The Pantheon is just east of the Notre Dame building. We pass by on the way to the grocery store. Just a few weeks ago, we visited my parents in a small town outside of Philadelphia. We marveled at a house in town that was dated 1690. Here, we cross a bridge everyday that was built in 1475. Almost all the buildings around are from the 17th century, most are earlier. And of course, there's the occasional building from the 1st century AD.
Here's a typical Roman side street: narrow, crowded and refreshingly cool. These will hold pedestrian traffic primarily, but the occasional car, or, more often,
motorino (scooter) will weave its way patiently through the ambling walkers.
For Annette, Katharine and the general enjoyment of all: The Trevi Fountain. It's really crowded in this picture, I intend to return for better photos during the siesta hours when it will be a lot more empty.
Every morning we get up and head over to the morning market in Campo De' Fiori, where we buy most of our food for the day. Fruit, vegetables, cheese or cured meats, all fresh or handmade, great quality, and great prices too, even with the € to $ conversion (currently $1 = €.75).
Down by the river, the Area Sacra (Sacred Area) of ancient Rome, a complex of three temples, doubles as a sanctuary for stray cats, who nap and play among the ancient ruins, fed and cared for by a charitable organization.
Castel St. Angelo was first Hadrian's mausoleum, then was converted into a round castle in the middle ages to guard the Vatican.
Looking toward new St. Peter's Basilica.
Sunrise washes the dome of St. Peter's in gold.
Katie, standing on the floor of Circus Maximus. I told her to watch out for the chariots with spiked wheels.
Not everything is dry in the Circus. We don't know what kind of flower this is.
A quaint medieval house in Trastevere
Rome still uses its ancient motto Senatus Populusque Romanus - SPQR - dating from the pre-imperial republican era of the last few centuries B.C. You'll find it everywhere from manhole covers, catch basin grates to police uniforms, soccer jerseys and more.
That's all the photos for now, many more to come. Looking at the above gigantic post, I think I'll do text links next time, with a few photo highlights, but I'm not going to retype this one.
I hope you enjoy,
Christopher
