Port - Civitavecchia (1 1/2 hours from Rome - depending on the traffic)
This was a long, and busy day...and by the end of it, not really long enough. As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day and you can't see it in a day either". We started off the tour with a driving panoramic tour of the Arch of Constantine, the Coliseum, Spanish Steps, and the Circus Maximus (chariot racing circuit, where they filmed
"Ben-
Hur").
From there we arrived at our first stop: Trevi Fountain. This fountain was a beautiful depiction of the sea. The statue in the center represents Neptune (or Poseiden) and the horses on either side represent the nature of water. The wild horse represents the destructive nature of the sea and the calm horse, the peace, serenity and life-giving power of calm waters. Superstition says that if you make a wish in the Trevi fountain while throwing a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder you will return to Rome one day. Aaron and I both made our wishes and fully intend to return to that city again.
We then walked from the Trevi fountain to the Pantheon. Formerly the temple for all Roman gods, it was transformed into a catholic church and allowed to remain in the city. The dome was absolutely amazing and an architechural wonder - since according to modern architects there is no reason this dome should not cave in on itself.
We then walked from the Pantheon to the Piazza Navona where we were able to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers, representing the four major rivers on the four major continents as recognized by renaissance geographers: The Nile (Africa), the Ganges (Asia), the Danube (Europe) and the Rio de la Plata (America). Unfortunately it was being cleaned at the time and we couldn't take in it's full splendor with water flowing from it. We were also able to get some pictures of the other fountains in the Piazza. Our tour guide also showed us a marker on the wall of one of the buildings in the square depicting to water level from the last great flood. It was a good 3 feet off the ground (if not more). Since that time great efforts were taken to build embankments and fortifications along the Tiber River so that the river did not continually flood Rome.
At this point we took a break for a leisurely Italian lunch. The food was good, but we were all eager to get to St. Peter's, and did not feel like spending two hours at lunch. After lunch we made our way to vatican city (after waiting for President Bush's entourage to clear the streets for our passage). I would have loved an entire day here, but unfortunately we were only given 45 minutes to see the inside of St. Peter's. It was beautiful, but we were only able to see about half of it in the time alloted and did not even have time to climb up to the cupola to look out on the city of Rome. Again....next time we're there.
This was a long, and busy day...and by the end of it, not really long enough. As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day and you can't see it in a day either". We started off the tour with a driving panoramic tour of the Arch of Constantine, the Coliseum, Spanish Steps, and the Circus Maximus (chariot racing circuit, where they filmed 
"Ben-
Hur"). 
From there we arrived at our first stop: Trevi Fountain. This fountain was a beautiful depiction of the sea. The statue in the center represents Neptune (or Poseiden) and the horses on either side represent the nature of water. The wild horse represents the destructive nature of the sea and the calm horse, the peace, serenity and life-giving power of calm waters. Superstition says that if you make a wish in the Trevi fountain while throwing a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder you will return to Rome one day. Aaron and I both made our wishes and fully intend to return to that city again.
We then walked from the Trevi fountain to the Pantheon. Formerly the temple for all Roman gods, it was transformed into a catholic church and allowed to remain in the city. The dome was absolutely amazing and an architechural wonder - since according to modern architects there is no reason this dome should not cave in on itself. .JPG)
We then walked from the Pantheon to the Piazza Navona where we were able to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers, representing the four major rivers on the four major continents as recognized by renaissance geographers: The Nile (Africa), the Ganges (Asia), the Danube (Europe) and the Rio de la Plata (America). Unfortunately it was being cleaned at the time and we couldn't take in it's full splendor with water flowing from it. We were also able to get some pictures of the other fountains in the Piazza. Our tour guide also showed us a marker on the wall of one of the buildings in the square depicting to water level from the last great flood. It was a good 3 feet off the ground (if not more). Since that time great efforts were taken to build embankments and fortifications along the Tiber River so that the river did not continually flood Rome.
At this point we took a break for a leisurely Italian lunch. The food was good, but we were all eager to get to St. Peter's, and did not feel like spending two hours at lunch. After lunch we made our way to vatican city (after waiting for President Bush's entourage to clear the streets for our passage). I would have loved an entire day here, but unfortunately we were only given 45 minutes to see the inside of St. Peter's. It was beautiful, but we were only able to see about half of it in the time alloted and did not even have time to climb up to the cupola to look out on the city of Rome. Again....next time we're there. 
.JPG)
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