The Hotel Room

Our room in the Hotel

The Hotel Bathroom (1)

The bathroom - very posh

The Hotel Bathroom (2)

The basin side of the bathroom.

The Hotel Entrance

The entrance of our hotel from the street. From the street, you hardly notice the entrance between all the shops.

The Hotel Foyer

The foyer to the hotel was in keeping with the Roman theme with the pillars and ornate painting on the ceiling.

Ruins of the Foro Traiano (1)

Ruins of the Mercati Traianei (1)

Ruins of the Mercati Traianei (2)

Ruins of the Foro Traiano (2)

Ruins of Foro di Augusto (1)

Ruins of Foro di Augusto (2)

Ruins of Foro di Augusto (3)

Ruins of Foro di Nerva

There was more to these ruins, but this was the most interesting part. Note the great detail carved into the marble.

The Colosseum (1)

Yup, it's just down the road. Not out in the middle of no where as I was expecting.

The Colosseum and I

Just to prove I was there - and I wasn't photoshopped in :-)

The Colosseum (2)

It looks like the builders got to a point and then thought - We can't be bothered, lets taper it off a big here.

The Colosseum (3)

My attempts at a picture you often see in books.

A Lion in the Colosseum

This was the closest we got to seeing any lions in the colosseum. The place has loads of feral cats.

Inside the Colosseum (1)

Taken from the lower level that is open to the public.

Inside the Colosseum (2)

Taken from the lower level that is open to the public.

Inside the Colosseum (3)

Taken from the lower level that is open to the public.

The Arco di Constantino (1)

This is literally across the road from the Colosseum. I took this from the upper tier, looking over the entrance to the Colosseum.

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Sign on the Colosseum

According to this sign, the ancient Romans only called this an amphitheatre.

Inside the Colosseum (4)

Taken from the upper tier that is open to the public. The tunnels and coridors you see all used to be covered by the wooden arena floor. A bit of the floor has been rebuilt to give people an idea of where the floor originally lay.

Inside the Colosseum (5)

Taken from the upper tier that is open to the public.

The Arco di Constantino (2)

A bit of an arty shot taken through the arches on the upper tier of the Colosseum.

Inside the Colosseum (6)

Taken from the upper tier open to the public. As you can see, renovation work is taking place on some of the upper most parts.

Inside the Colosseum (7)

Taken from the upper tier open to the public.

Remains of some Huge Halls

I can only describe these as the remains of some huge halls of sorts. These are huge.

Fountain in the Palatino

It's hard to tell, but this is an indoor fountain in a room at the entrance of the Palatino. I couldn't work out the source, but it looks like it's been there for a very very long time.

Ruins of the Palatino (1)

There's nothing much left of the Palatino except loads of pretty impressive ruins.

Ruins of the Palatino (2)

Ruins of the Palatino (3)

My guess is this used to be filled with water.

Ruins of the Palatino (4)

Taken from high up on the hill within the confines of the Palatino

Ruins of the Palatino (5)

Ruins of the Palatino (6)

Looking back up to the hill on which the Palatino was built.

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

This has got to be one of the most impressive buildings still standing in it's entirety in Rome. It is however, one of the newest and gives you an idea of what the rest of the buildings in ancient Rome may have looked like.

The Pantheon

Piazza Colonna

This is considered by most Romans as the very centre of the city of Rome.

Galleria Colonna (1)

This is actually a very old building, and used to be call the Palazzo Spada al Corso, but is now a shopping centre, that has been used in numerous adverts.

Galleria Colonna (2)

This is the other

Fontana di Trevi (1)

This has got to be the most beautiful fountain I've ever seen. It's huge, with loads of intricate detail. However, despite it's size, it's in a relatively small piazza.

Fontana di Trevi (2)

Fontana di Trevi (3)

Fontana di Trevi (4)

Fontana di Trevi And Claire (1)

We couldn't get down to the water's edge on our first visit, so made do with a shot taken further back.

Fontana di Trevi (5)

The Spanish Steps (1)

So called for the positioning of the Spanish Embassy in the same piazza as these stairs. I wasn't too impressed by these. The building works at the top don't help either.

The Spanish Steps (2)

Now with more of the fountain at the bottom.

The Basilica Across from Piazza della Replublica

Piazza del Quirinale

Fontana di Trevi (6)

We went back to the Trevi Fountain the next day to find it less busy, so I took more pictures.

Fontana di Trevi (6)

Fontana di Trevi And Me

Fontana di Trevi and Claire (2)

Mini Bus

Now this is a mini bus. These cute little electric buses zoom around some of the narrower areas of Rome. They sound like milk carts with a bit more oomph.

Piazza del Popolo

Column in Piazza del Popolo

Well, at least what it would have looked like had it not been covered up for maintenance.

Vatican (1)

I'm not overly religious or catholic, but the Basilica St Pietro in the Vatican is very impressive.

Nativity Scene

Erm, it's way past the 12th night, surely they shouldn't have the Christmas deco's out still - it's bad luck.

Front Entrance to the Basilica

The Northern Wing

The northern wing of columns surrounding the piazza in front of the Basilica.

The Southen Wing

The southern wing of columns surrounding the piazza in front of the Basilica.

The Dome (1)

We paid our €4.00 and climbed the stairs to the dome on the top of the Basilica. The art work here is amazing. Unfortunately, it was quite dark, so I had to try my hardest not to move to try and minimise blurring.

The Dome (2)

The Dome (3)

It's a long way up here. Unfortunately, there's a 10 foot high fence all around the balcony in the dome, hence the slight blurs on the edges of a few of the pics. I had to try aim the camera through the grill.

The Dome (4)

We're so high up, it looks like we're peering into a dolls house.

The Dome (5)

The Dome (6)

Mosaic on Edge of Dome

These mosaic images are repeated all the way around the bottom of the actual dome. It's pretty amazing how accurate the reproduction of each is.

Tiny People

Those are some teeny weeny people down there.

The Dome (7)

The trim around the base of the dome from a distance - notice how accurate the replication is.

View from the Dome (1)

A load more steps and some very tight passages later and we popped out on top of the dome. This has got to be the best place to get a view of Rome and the Vatican City. This is the piazza in front of the Basilica.

View from the Dome (2)

View from the Dome (3)

Some of the gardens within Vatican City. These appear to be closed to the public.

View from the Dome (4)

View from the Dome (5)

View from the Dome (6)

The Outside of the Dome (1)

We were just at the top of this dome. This is the huge dome way above the Basilia. This shot is taken from the roof of the Basilica.

The Outside of the Dome (2)

There's even a curios shop up and post box up here. This is where we posted postcards to our mums.

Inside the Basilica (1)

Inside the Basilica (2)

Inside the Basilica (3)

The dome from the ground.

Inside the Basilica (4)

Inside the Basilica (5)

The Basilica and Us

Self portrait shot of Claire and I outside the Basilica. Boy am I looking old, fat and tired. Must be the old age.

The Vatican Upstream

Palazzo Giustizia

Piazza Navona (1)

Looking one way down the Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona Fountain

Piazza Navona (2)

Looking up the other way.

Area Sacra (1)

This area of ruins just appears in the middle of quite a built up area. Apparently it was discovered when digging started to build a new apartment block here.

Area Sacra (2)

Area Sacra's Moggies

The Area Sacra is also used to house neutered, innoculated homeless cats. This is done all on a voluntary and donation basis.

Area Sacra (3)

Inside the Pantheon (1)

Inside the Pantheon (2)

Inside the Pantheon (3)

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II By Night

We didn't plan to come here at night, but stumbled back here looking for Trevi Fountain. Pretty impressive at night too.

Trevi Fountain By Night (1)

Some things look cool at night too, and Trevi Fountain is not exception.

Trevi Fountain By Night (2)

Teeny Weeny Car (Rear)

We saw quite a few of these teeny weeny cars. They are literally just two seats and probably smaller than a Smart car too.

Teeny Weeny Car (Front)