First of all, let’s be clear. You could spend a lifetime in Rome and not see everything… we had 3 days. On the first day we traveled to Civita di Bagnoregio (see post) so that left us 2 days in Rome. Hotels are really important to us and Jamie has to have a pool. That’s not so easy in Europe, let alone Rome… but I decided to humor him. We stayed at the Radisson ‘blu on Via Filippo Turati. We needed to do at least a one mile run to keep up our running streak, so we decided to just run to the Colosseum. Running 4.5 miles in such heat was a cruel joke. Yet, the run, was unbelievable! We saw aqueducts, ruins being restored, places to say in the ruins themselves, it was mind-boggling… We ran on the hippodrome, imagine the chariots racing through… By the time we finished 4.5 miles, we were hot, cranky, thirsty and somewhat irritable. But… remember the Radisson has a pool. It was a fantastic end to our ‘run’. The temperature was just right in 90+ degree weather and thankfully there was a pool bar (7th Floor Rooftop Pool Club) as well. It was so worth it!
Coliseum
We needed to do at least a one mile run to keep up our running streak, so we decided to just run to the Colosseum. The “little” run is a joke – it was 5 miles but it was an unbelievable run! We saw aqueducts, ruins being restored, it was mind-boggling… The Coliseum is technically called the Flavian Amphitheatre, named for 3 of the Flavius family emperors: Vespesian, Titus, and Domitian but it’s also know as the temple of peace. Hmm, that sounds odd to me since we have visions of gladiators, gory deaths, Christian martyrs and such. I get it however, the “Pax Romana” was peace at all costs. The vision for the coliseum came from Vespesian after he defeated the Jews in the Great Jewish Revolt of 70 AD which led to the siege of Jerusalem where Vespesian not only took the riches of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem but also enslaved approximately 100,000 Jewish people to build the Colosseum. If you’re interested, watch the 4 part TV miniseries starring Peter O’Toole – Masada, to give you an idea of the Jewish revolt against Rome. Josephus, a Jewish/Roman historian said this: “When the triumphal ceremonies were over, as the Roman empire was now firmly established, Vespasian made up his mind to build a temple of Peace. This was completed with remarkable speed and surpassed all human imagination. Not only did he have unlimited wealth at his disposal; he also adorned it with paintings and statues by the greatest of the old masters. In fact, in that temple were collected and deposited all those works that men had hitherto traveled over the whole world to see, longing to set eyes on them even when scattered in different lands. There too he laid up the golden vessels from the Temple of the Jews, for he prided himself on them; but their Law and the crimson curtains of the Inner Sanctuary he ordered to be deposited in the Palace for safe keeping.”
The Hippodrome
Part of our ‘little’ run took us down to the hippdrome, known as the Hippodrome of Domitian…
By the time we finished 4.5 miles, we were hot, cranky, thirsty and somewhat irritable. But… remember the Radisson has a pool (the barman GianCarlo treats everyone with perfect respect – he is after all an artist). It was a fantastic end to our ‘run’. The temperature was just right in 90+ degree weather and thankfully there was a pool bar as well. It was so worth it!
A Little Hotel Among the Ruins
The name
Our Stay at the Radisson Blu
Sonia greeted us!
The Sistine Chapel
You might buy the tickets together but you have to treat the venues distinctly.
The Vatican Museums
children
Rooftop Dinners at La Terrazza dei Papi & Aroma in the Luxurious Hotel Palazzo Manfredi
Sundown dinners
Fountain Trevi
For good luck
Understanding Culture – Breakfast is King
water -with or without, bathing caps, breakfasts, taxes and tipping, smoking, walking and mass trans
