COLOSSEO / COLOSSEUMThe...
by tanianska
COLOSSEO / COLOSSEUM
The Colosseum is arguably ancient Rome's most famous building. This massive structure, with arch upon arch reaching 48m (157ft) into the air and measuring 190m by 155m (620ft by 513ft), used to hold up to 50,000 boisterous Roman citizens. Opened in AD 80 by Emperor Titus in a ceremony that included 100 days of games, the Colosseum played host to Rome's favourite spectator sports - gladiatorial contests, combats between men and wild animals and even mock naval battles. Such sports were outlawed in the fifth century AD, and only the shell remains, along with a view down to the passages through which slaves and animals were led before entering into battle. Unlike other Roman amphitheatres that are dug into hillsides, the Colosseum is a free-standing structure of stone and concrete and has long served as a model for stadia around the world.
Opening Times: Daily 09:00-19:00
Garibaldi
by Angelinka
Monument for Garibaldi: hero that gave freedom to Rome becoming italian and not anymore Pope state.
Monumento a Garibaldi: eroe che diede la libertà a Roma diventata italiana dopo essere stata sotto il dominio Papale.
tips from FCO to rome
by maerti
to avoid problems with taxis at FCO take the train direct to TIBURTINA STATION (beware: do not take 'Leonardo Express' train it's a direct link to termini station and cost too much) and get off at TRASTEVERE STATION, at Trastevere station take the TRAM 8 direction: ARGENTINA.
the end of the the line is Largo di torre Argentina.
with 4€ per person you'll reach your goal!
for more info visit: WWW.trenitalia.com and www.atac.roma.it/
BYE
Great Roman Cuisine!
by SFHulaGIrl about La Reina
Burnt orange terra cotta walls, red velvet curtains, leopard print swags, and plenty of candles set the mood for extremely attentive and friendly service, plus very good food. This restaurant seems to be patronized by locals more than tourists, but the exceptional service is what really makes it stand out! Two heavy, but wonderful (and typically Roman) dishes were the spaghetti alla carbonara and the saltimbocca. The bacon was so flavorful. When the dishes are accompanied by a gratis glass of prosecco, they're even better!
The Vatican
by tompik
Okay, so I was raised in the Catholic tradition, in an Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, and find myself on the rooftop of a convent overlooking St. Peter's Square awaiting the famous puff of white smoke annoucing a new Pope to the world. Looking across St. Peter's, I imagined the college of cardinals sitting in the Sistine Chapel below Micheangelo's ceiling. I wouldn't get to see the Sistine Chapel on that trip, but it was our first stop on our next trip.
Looking up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, using my prescription progressive lenses to magnify the distant Michelangelo masterpieces, I thought next time bring binoculars. In my mind's eye, Charleton Heston and Michelangelo were one and the same person. Now I was standing under the actual work of the actual person,not the Million Dollar movie fantasy. My impression of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was chaos; a chaotic swirl of interplay between God and man, man and nature, events, all melded into one.
Why Chaos, I thought? The ceiling was quite geometric, scenes painted into rectangles and arched triangles, triplets of boxes in rows, interupted only by symetrical pointed arches. Viewed as photos, or on a television set, the viewer sits stationary as the scenes are displayed in an orderly fashion by the rotation of the camera. However, experiencing the ceiling as a spectator in the chapel, it is the viewer who moves. First back and forth, then side to side, around in a circle, and before long you are spinning like a top on your own axis. The chaos, I came to realize , is not in the painting on the ceiling, but in experiencing it first hand as a spectator. Perhaps the only still point visually is the space between God's finger and Adam's. There for a moment your eyes rest.
I followed the rules and didn't take any pictures in the Sistine Chapel. Check out the web site below for an interesting interactive experience of the ceiling.
Also not to be missed at the Vatican Museum are the Raffelo rooms.
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Interior of Coliseum
Trajan's Market ruins
“Creugas,” Vatican Museum, May 2007
Nice details well remained
