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Travel Blog of the Gaps
Buon giorno, Blogonauts*! Italy welcomed us with open skies and a warm sunshine hug. And luckily, we stayed awake to enjoy it. Our snugly-packed 767 gave us no unusual trouble as it toted us over the Atlantic. When we landed in Rome, it was just past 9 AM. Toby met us at the Termini railway station, we parked our luggage at the nearby hotel (a short 4 blocks away), and we were off, taking in the sights in this city that is itself an ancient landmark. And a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum: we tripped over an almost-as-ancient church. The Santa Maria Maggiore Church is so named because it is Rome's biggest basilica that was built to honor Mary. The basic building was constructed during the 430s (that's right, the 5th century), and it is still contained beneath the present baroque exterior. Inside, the church walls ornately depict in golden mosaics and molding some of the Mary-and-Jesus stories. And adding to the interior's decor, there are the tombs of a hand full of dead popes. After downing pizzas/pasta for lunch, we toddled toward Ancient Rome's crowning jewel: the Colosseum. Calendars show we are in the latter half of September, but tourists seem to believe it to be midsummer. The ancient sites surrounding the Colosseum (The Forum, Palatine Hill, etc.) were infested with camera-clad gawkers. We found ourselves weaving our ways through the tourist warp-and-woof, and at times joining in. We found some superb photo vantage points as we circumnavigated the Palatine Hill. Now dominating the Capitoline Hill sits a monument to Italy's unification: The Vittorio Emanuelle II monument. Often compared to a decorated wedding cake, this high, white behemoth seems always to be looking over your shoulder, no matter where in Rome you happen to be. So we decided to sit on its shoulders via an elevator ride to its roof. It offers spectacular views, well worth the time and euros. We took a break, then went to dinner in the Campo dei Fiori plaza. On our way home, we watched a young street artist crafting rapid-fire pictures from spray cans of paint and brushes made of ripped newspaper. Toby and I each purchased one of his works. Finally jet lag won the alertness battle, and we ambled off to bed. But we have another day in Rome, so tune in later for some updates. *Blogonauts: Those who join me on my journeys via the blog (a riff on "astronauts," whose journeys carry them out toward the stars).
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Anna Sounds wonderful. Surprised it's still so busy. Can't wait to hear more!