Not so nice custom
by Turska
We were little shocked how much trash people leave on the streets,throw to Tevere(Tiber),and how they can even draw a trafic-signs full of words and drawings and put stickers on it.And people throw candy-papres and empty bottles where ever.And most of the toilets are broken-and you can see,that they are broked.
One night we notised Tevere full of empty waterbottles.It was sad to see.I hope they will stop this before it´s too late.They say allways,that in Finland people leave trash everywhere,but it´s nothing compared to this.We have noticed same thing in Spain.I hope they will learn recycling soon.
Roaming from the Pantheon 2
by alza
Near the Pantheon, I took a small street off Via del Seminario, called via dei Pastini. There I found a magical artisan shop called Bartolucci, where working with wood is an art. (Bartolucci has shops all over Italy.) Here, Pinocchio is king! very amusing and great photo opps!
(Without knowing it, I was approaching Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, and Bernini's elephant and obelisk, which I've already written about here.)
I followed Via del Pie' di Marmo, left on via di San Ignazio then slight right on Via del Seminario. Here you face Piazza San Ignazio, a stunning small square straight out of a movie set! or rather, a theatre décor. I'm very sorry I didn't take a pic of the square and only got the Church of San Ignazio... by then, I wanted a restroom... I stopped for a pastry on the square, at a rather famous restaurant with terrace called Le Cave di San Ignazio (in Restaurant tips.)
The Church of San Ignazio has a famous cupola in trompe-l'oeil, It is a Jesuit church, like the Gesù. On the ceiling, the influence and diffusion of the Jesuit vocation is illustrated by the words of Ignace de Loyola "Go and light up the world!"
Don't be afraid to use taxis
by Vallelde
We really did a lot of walking in Rome but during the heat when we had done our sightseeing and wanted to get back to the hotel or to some where else fast (and cool!) we took a taxi. You can hail them yourself or they tend to hang around tourist attractions. Several times we went into a hotel lobby and asked the desk to call us one! We always had polite drivers and from one side of the city to the other it was never over ten dollars and that included a tip. We found the buses very confusing....certain bus stops only service certain destinations. Confusing and there was a slight language barrier. We opted for the ease and conveninece of a taxi and were glad we did.
Absolutely miss Navona Notte
by biloune about Navone Notte
Tis restaurant is recommended by the Guide du Routard... but it was horrible! Tourist food, tourist service stink street and dirty toilets... Don't go, there's a lot of good restaurants, no more expansive, in Trastevere for example... No comment
When do they feed the lions?
by smschley
We arrived at the Coliseum at lunch time and decided to have a picnic there. Having a bit of wine and food with the Coliseum in the background… you can’t get better than that.
Think of Rome and it's hard not to have a vision of the Coliseum pop into your mind. The proper name is actually the Flavian Amphitheater and was started by Titus in 71AD and finished by Domitian about 10 years later. What was most striking to me was the size of it. To think that it was able to hold 50,000 people almost 2,000 years ago is amazing. With its 80 entrances, it is believed that it could be emptied out within 15 minutes. For those of us who have visited any type of modern Coliseum, that is truly amazing.
At one point they were able to flood it and have boat battles, other times they staged gladiatorial games. Underground the floor was a series of elevators that were able to move animals quickly from their cages to above ground. The show was heavily choreographed and if the Emperor or the crowd did not like it, the stage manager could be executed.
The best seats were around the wall of the arena and were reserved for the Aristocrats; some even had their names engraved on their seats. The upper levels were for the slaves the rest of middle are was for the citizens of the empire. To help avoid the heat from the sun they were able to pull a canvas cover over the top. The complete mechanics of which is still unknown. On another note, there is no historical verification that Christians were ever killed there.
A typical “game” started with animal hunts and ordinary executions in the morning. In afternoon one could enjoy a feast of the recently animals killed in the hunt and watch the gladiator games After that the arena floor could be flooded for a sea battle re-enactment or some other special event. All of this was free and provided for by the elite to basically keep the city population off their back and make them forget their lot.
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San Bernardo alle Terme
Arch of Titus
before the Colosseum
Freddo Giovanni Fassi, oldest icecream factory
