Alone in Rome part 3

 It's been a year since I was in Rome and coincidentally it was on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I only had one day to spend in the city so I wanted to pack in as much as I could during the twelve hours I had. With my knapsack on my back and my camera in hand, I set off to explore.

On the Tour Bus

By the time I arrived at the Colosseum my feet were starting to feel tired. I decided to walk around the exterior of the Colosseum to get to the bus stop where I would take the tour bus and get to rest a bit. The way the bus works is you get a map and earplugs when you board. You find a seat an plug in. Choose the channel which corresponds to your language and listen to an explanation of the areas and attractions you drive by. At any point along the ride you can go off and tour around. When you are ready you can go back on the bus and ride it some more. You usually can buy a day pass or a two day pass.

So I figured I would ride around town and see some more attractions, and later on I would return and walk around the Roman Forum and perhaps even pay to go inside the Colosseum. A few minutes after I got on the tour bus I was extremely happy I was already on the bus because it started to POUR!....and it didn't let up for the next FOUR HOURS!!! Well, I certainly had to change my plans real quick. I didn't know how long the rain would last and thought it probably would get better soon, and when it did, I could get off the bus and resume my touring. Well it did not! However, for the time I was on the bus I thought it would be a shame if I did not do at least some kind of touring, so I at least had some fun taking very artsy pictures of the famous places around Rome.

"Vittoriano"
A monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy.

Vittoriano

just a random building with a billboard

Peter's basilica

Piazza S. Pietro

Peter's basilica

First time I saw an electric car plugged in to recharge

this was a jungle of motorbikes in between the roads

After finishing the complete bus route (about 90 minutes), I realized that it would be rediculous to ride the bus the entire day as the rain did not seem to be letting up. So I decided to ride the bus to the closest stop to my destination where I would brave the rain to find the Jewish Museum. Read about it in part 4.

Alone in Rome part 1

Alone in Rome part 2

Alone in Rome part 4

Alone in Rome part 2

 It's been a year since I was in Rome and coincidentally it was on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I only had one day to spend in the city so I wanted to pack in as much as I could during the twelve hours I had. With my knapsack on my back and my camera in hand, I set off to explore.

 The Colosseum

After ending up at the opposite end from the Colosseum I made my way towards there. There was some very light rain when I was by Forum of Trajan, but by now it had pretty much let up so I was looking forward to a nice day with perhaps one more light shower.

Basilica di Massenzio and the Colosseum at the end of the road

Basilica di Massenzio

The general area I first ended up in. Across the road is Caesar's Forum and the Roman Forum (only part is shown). The Roman Forum is where the Arch of Titus is. And of course, down the road, the large circular building is the Colosseum where I was headed towards.

Ancient Rome

At this point my feet were getting really tired so I figured I would hop on the tour bus and come back later on. Then I could also walk around the Roman Forum and if I really wanted to, pay to go inside the Colossem.

police car

I don't think I have ever seen a bus this small. Perhaps it seems so tiny because the door is so large.

Alone in Rome part 1 here
Alone in Rome part 3 here

Alone in Rome part 1

 It's been a year since I was in Rome and coincidentally it was on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I only had one day to spend in the city so I wanted to pack in as much as I could during the twelve hours I had. With my knapsack on my back and my camera in hand, I set off to explore.

Flying to FCO airport right outside of Rome just in time to catch a spectacular sunrise that looked like fire emerging from behind the mountains. Too bad the picture does not do it justice.

After flying into Fiumicino Airport, I took a train straight into Rome. The ride takes about 30 minutes and cost me €14. Although there were cheaper options, that was just the easiest for me. Once I arrived at the Roma Termini station, I set out for my long day of exploration.

I wanted to start by the Forum and Colosseum. During the train ride I met a lovely lady who kindly described to me how to get to there, but somehow I ended up at the complete opposite end and didn't realize it until much later.

"Vittoriano"
A monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy.

Trajan's Forum with a victory column

Trajan's Column commemorating his victory in the Dacian wars

Trajan's Market

Trajan's Forum

My impression was that this was like a dumping ground, but filled ancient ruins instead! It seemed like it was all over the place. With the enormous amount of ruins throughout the city (and country) it makes sense that not everything is able to be excavated and made to look nice. In another sense, it was nice to see it like this in a more raw setting as if you really did come to a long abandoned area.

seen here are sections of Trajan's Forum, Augustus' Forum, and Nerva's Forum

It was time for me to make my way to the Colosseum. On the way, I bought a hop-on-hop-off city tour bus ticket. It was €15 for the entire day, but it may have been with a discount I was able to get. Normally I do not like to do the tour bus thing. However, I was not interested in walking all around the city especially since there was a very light rain/drizzle that morning.

The rain was really not a problem except for just a few minutes where I was able to step inside a tourist center. About 5 minutes later, I continued making my way toward the Colosseum which by then I realized was at the opposite end of where I started (although I still did not realize that I could have gone there by way of the Roman Forum and pass through the Arch of Titus.)

yet another ruin on my way to the Colosseum (Basilica di Massenzio)

Basilica di Massenzio and the Colosseum at the end of the road

The areas I first came to: Forum Di Traiano (Trajan's Forum) and Forum Di Augusto (Augustus' Forum)

The general area I first ended up in. Across the road is Caesar's Forum and the Roman Forum (only part is shown). The Roman Forum is where the Arch of Titus is. And of course, down the road, the large circular building is the Colosseum.

this was very interesting for me to see how Ancient Rome could have looked, a big contrast to today where its glory lays in vast Ruins

Alone in Rome part 2 here