Rome.

Siena was a good stepping stone back to the larger, more populous world before us. Arriving at the Roma Termini, which is the largest train station I’ve ever been in, it seemed at first, like any other larger city. As one walks just a few blocks, you realize this isn’t true. Most European cities, while modern, reflect their medieval past, Rome has this, but as you continue to walk it’s roots show deeper, older, the ruins left by the empire date back another 1000-1500 years before their medieval counterparts.

Even in ruins, it is clear how much progress the ancient Romans had made, compared to the civilizations which attempted to build upon it.

It is hot here, so we have been doing things in the mornings, taking an afternoon siesta, then continuing activity in the evenings. Since we where traveling all morning, we found a hotel just off of Via Nazionale and took a few hours just to rest before heading out around 6:00 pm to orient ourselves in the city.

Only a brief walk found us standing above the remains of Trajan’s market and the Forum.

Next to this is the somewhat stark monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of a united Italy, which occurred in 1861.

 

 

Just down the Via dei Fori Imperiali, a road built by Benito Mussolini destroying part of the Forum and several churches in the process, we came face to face with the coliseum. It was closed by the time we got to it, but we will go in tomorrow. It is interesting to see such an ancient structure so intact, but I can’t help but feel sorrow looking at it, thinking of how many of our people suffered and died for their faith in Jesus within these walls. A skilled classical guitarist, played a somber, contemplative piece nearby, making the moment even more poignant.

The lights of the city soon came alight, around the ruins. It was a beautiful sight, and sadly for you, one I only took with my DSLR, here is a picture from the screen of the camera, but you’ll have to wait for my return before you can see the full glory of the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rome, quizzically, seems to slow down more at night than some of Italy’s smaller communities with stores and even many restaurants closing by 10, so we turned in, and look forward to the next day.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2012 at 7:38 am and is filed under Italy. You can follow responses to this entry through the Comments RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.