Aug 2010 Rome - day 3

Sat 07 Aug 2010
Day three in Rome.
After breakfast we got the Metro to the Colosseum, which we decided not to go in.

Instead, we just walked along, and past the Arch of Constantine toward the Baths of Caracalla.

It is estimated that the Baths of Caracalla could accommodate 1600 bathers/patrons at a time. Below: Artists' impressions of the Baths in its heyday.

Below: our photos... once again there are enough hints to give a sense of the former glory of the place. Its just vast, there's no other word! It is such a shame that the complex was a quarry (for marble etc) during the Renaissance!
Here are some shots, including various original roman mosaics.

Next, we headed over to see the Circus Maximus (pictured below), on the way to the Tiber River so Steve could check out the Great Cloaca of Rome.


Further along we stumbled upon the location of the Bocca della Verita (mouth of truth), and having seen the queue decided not to bother. Just across the road from it though was a nice little 2nd century temple, thought to be dedicated to Hercules. The roof is a later addition. Considering its age, some of the capitals were is stellar condition!

And here below, is where the ancient Roman sewerage system (not in use for raw sewage these days) flows out into the river.

So we set out back towards the old Roman Forum, and walk up to the top of Capitol Hill. Needing some lunch and to get off the feet something fierce, our trusty Rome stepbystep guidebook assures us there's a simple museum cafe with top views hereabouts. We finally find it and the guide hasn't let us down. Upon leaving we realise actually we're within the museum stairs and have access to the musuem although we've not paid. Oops, so we made a speedy exit without getting into trouble. The views were great though!

And so back out to the Capitol Hill square, and here's an equestrian bronze statue (a cast) of Steve's favourite roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, from 80AD (not that you'd know, with the way he kept draggin me to Trajan's column every day).

Just off this square is a magnificent view over the remains of classical Rome and the Roman Forum (above and below).

And so, with Jen's feet about to fall off, we descended Capitol Hill via the top end of the Roman Forum.
 

After a two hour nap at the hotel, and showers, and air-con, we were sufficiently revived to do a tiny bit more exploring. This time, we made our way to the Pantheon before closing time. As there was Mass taking place, we back-tracked a little and saw "Time Elevator" which was not in our guide, but we'd noticed on the tourist maps. Having just only now read the reivews online, we agree with most of these headlines: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187791-d538099-Reviews-The_Time_Elevator-Rome_Lazio.html#REVIEWS

Anyway, what was achieved is that it was now the perfect time to see the Pantheon and this we did!

Here's a cheeky little shot Steve took at a shop window, adjacent to the Pantheon: