What To See In Rome

Walking around in Rome is amazing.  There is so much to see you can't see it all.  If you look up you'd miss these gold cobblestones.  Some apartments had one gold cobblestones and others had more.  I didn't realize each gold cobblestone indicated a person who was removed from that apartment building during World War 2.

We saw this sparrow while eating breakfast al fresco (outside).  Typical breakfast in 2 ounces of hot thick coffee sweetened with sugar, a pastry glazed with sugar and a granitas (a fruit flavored sugary ice drink).  That amounts to a very sweet breakfast.

While walking toward a tourist attraction we saw this building.  See the flags about halfway down the building?  That marks the balcony from where Mussolini gave many speeches.  Those pine trees are called umbrella pines.

Everywhere I look I see giant beautiful churches with extravagant architecture and marble statues.

Here I am at the Roman colisuem - the place where gladiators fought.

A horse waits for hire outside the Gates of Constantine.

I walk around inside the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's Basilica.  I wonder why they let us walk on this beautiful mosaic tile.  I love mosaics.  If i tried to recreate this pattern I would have to have a very large surface area.

It is hot and we are thirsty.  Rome has ancient fountains where the water always runs.  We fill our water bottles.

This is the Pantheon.  Inside is a round building with a hole in the top.  I would think a hole in the center of the building would not last but obviously I am wrong.  This one has been around for two thousand years.  This building has the largest unreinforced concrete dome. Again, I can't believe they let us walk around on the mosaic tile floors.  Inside here are the tombs of two Italian Kings and the painter Raphael.

My traveling companions likes fountains and animals. She calls them Bow wows.  I try to see Rome through her eyes because my eyes are overloaded with magnificent building and marble statues of muscular men and women.  There is too much beauty for one person to appreciate.