Our trip to Rome!

Jordan and I are back from our trip to Rome, Italy! We left for our adventure on Thanksgiving Day and came back to reality on December 1st. We had a splendid time and saw lots and lots of anciently old buildings, statues, and sites. The weather was great the entire time we were there and the food was amazing! Particularly the gellato!

We would love to share all 124 photos with you (we had more, but I deleted a lot of repeats), but I don't think I want to spend all day waiting for my computer to upload all of them. So instead, I will share with you our favorite pictures of Rome.

The Colosseum:
On our first full day in Rome, we started out walking (a few miles) to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We actually woke up late that day because we were so tired from our flights, and ended up missing our hotel's breakfast. When we got to the Colosseum, we ate at a little restaurant right across from the Colosseum. The breakfast was great and the site of the Colosseum was awesome. The photo that is our "title photo", for our blog, is the shot I took of the Colosseum while eating breakfast. Anyways, here are a few more photos from that expedition:

This is a shot of the Colosseum as we were approaching it.

These are a few shots of inside the Colosseum. You are looking at the animal cages below the non-existing floor. They used pulleys/elevators to hoist the animals up onto the main floor to fight the gladiators.

Here is a photo of Jordan. I thought he looked so cute in this photo!

Here is a photo of us in the Colosseum. I can tell we are both a little tired!

This is a view of the Palatine Hill from the Colosseum. We didn't get to go there, because it was already closed, by the time we got through looking at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Oh well, maybe another visit?!

The Arch of Titus and the Roman Forum:

After we were through looking at the Colosseum, we headed over to the Arch of Titus and the Roman Forum. In the Roman Forum

The Arch of Titus: This arch commemorated the Roman victory over the province of Judaea in A.D. 70.

The next two photos are of the Temple of Julius Caesar. This is inside the Roman Forum. At the Temple of Julius Caesar; Julius Caesar's body was burned on this spot (under the metal roof) after his assassination.

More photos of the Roman Forum:

On the second full day we were there, we went to see the National Roman Museum, the Pantheon, the National Etruscan Museum (we have no photos of this though), Piazza Del Popolo, and the Spanish Steps.

The National Roman Museum:

In the National Roman Museum we got to see some neat old statues. Here are a few of the ones we saw:

The Pantheon:

Here are a few photos of the Pantheon (both the outside and the inside).

The hole at the top of the Pantheon:

Some of the art and decorations inside the Pantheon:

The huge doors to the entrance of the Pantheon:

We also took a few photos of the water fountains that were scattered throughout Rome. They looked like a giant fire hydrant, that constantly streamed out water from the bottom- until you placed your finger over the spicket (sp?) and then the water would shoot out from the top and you could drink that way. The water from the water fountains was actually pretty tasty!

Piazza Del Popolo:

Us overlooking the city of Rome:

Spanish Steps:

In Vatican City:

On our third and last full day in Rome, we went to Vatican City and saw St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro), St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican grottoes (The Catholic monks wouldn't let us take photos in here), we climbed up Michelangelo's dome, and then visited the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel (They were strict about no photos!)

A photo of St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro):

Pictures of St. Peter's Basilica:

A photo of Michelangelo's exquisite Pieta:

A photo of the 13th-century bronze statue of St. Peter:

This is a photo of the twisty-columned baldacchino by Bernini, resting over the papal altar.

A photo of Michaelangelo's dome inside St. Peter's Basilica:

We climbed Michaelangelo's Dome. We missed walking the first 171 steps, because we took the elevator, but had to walk the rest of the 320 steps after getting off. At the top we had an astounding view over the rooftops of Rome, the Vatican Gardens, and papal apartments.

Michaelangelo's Dome:

Inside Michaelangelo's Dome, looking down at the crowd below:

A closer picture of Michaelangelo's dome! It was magnificent!

We continued walking the 320 steps, and finally made it outside. Here is a photo of Jordan at the top!

A picture from the top of Michaelangelo's dome, looking down at St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro).

Well, that is all folks! Like I said, we had a fabulous time in Rome. Thanks for stopping by!