Rome - Part 2

OK, more of Rome!

We had another evening stroll by the Colosseum, and the full moon was out.

This is the Arch of Constantine (Constantine was the first Christian Roman emperor), which was dedicated in 315 to commemorate one of his battle victories a few years previous.  It is situated right next to the Colosseum.  This arch has many reliefs (a sculptural technique that makes the stone or wood look raised, whereas it is the background that is etched away) that were taken and reused from 2nd century imperial monuments.  Emperors and their troops would pass through this arch when they returned to Rome victorious.

We visited the Vatican and had a guided audio tour (thus the green straps holding our receivers).  Here we are with St. Peter's Basilica behind us.  The tour was a good thing.  We went in the morning as advised to avoid the majority of tourists.  However, as we walked through the Vatican museum, there were so many people that we could hardly turn around in some places.  This is why we have to use the receivers, or else it would not be possible to hear our guide.  You may know that Vatican City is it's own country (and the smallest in the world).  There was a spot along the way that you could mail a postcard and have it stamped that it came from the Vatican country.  

Another photo at the Vatican.

Statues at the Vatican.  

Here is a purple marble sarcophagus, which is essentially an ornamental coffin.  Did I mention purple marble previously in a blog?  If not, it is "insanely hard" as I read one person describe it.  I read a couple places online that it is worth 20,000 euros per square inch.  If it's true, that's crazy.  

(Really hard to get a photo without people, since there are so many!)

The ceiling at the Sistine Chapel.  No photos allowed.  But Ray somehow manages.  I don't even try.

Statue of Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo in St. Peter's Basilica

Dome at St. Peter's Basilica

This is St. Peter's Baldachin, a ceremonial canopy constructed of bronze by the famous Bernini to mark where St. Peter is buried.  

Again, in St. Peter's Basilica

Swiss guards at the Vatican.  They are Swiss soldiers who have been employed for the safety the Pope since 1506.  We like their colorful clown-like uniforms.  :)

Front view of St. Peter's Basilica with another obelisk from Egypt in the middle of the plaza.

We were intrigued by these leather animal purses.  

A nighttime walk to some places we had already been...Plaza Navona...

...Pantheon...

On our last day in Rome, I took a pasta making cooking class!!!  It was AWESOME to say the least.  I was in kitchen heaven.  :)  First, we met on a street corner (all three of us participants...usually there are close to 10 people, so we got a private class!), and our instructor, Fredrico, took us to the market, cheese shop, and meat shop for our ingredients for the day.  Here we are at the market, where he (in chef's coat, of course) told us about varieties of tomatoes, "Roman broccoli", and "Roman zucchini".  

The cheese shop.  These are small local shops with great quality product.

The meat shop, where Fredrico bought veal, which is very Italian, he says.

Then we walked to a private apartment where they give the classes.  Wow, that place was cool!  Fredrico had an assistant, who did a great job chopping what we hadn't gotten to, and cleaning up our messes.  He was a happy "kid" and from Sri Lanka.

Forgive me for putting so many cooking photos, but I just can't help myself!

Here we go...

Making pasta from scratch wasn't so hard...

it just takes time and muscle to knead that stuff (by hand) until it is smooth.  

Here is the bow tie pasta.

Putting together the zucchini & cheese stuffed ravioli

Here they are, ready to cook

Learning how to use the pasta machine properly

All the pastas ready for boiling

Ravioli plated.  Fredrico showed us how to make a carrot sauce (the orange one), and he also used previously made (in other classes) white, red wine, and green/zucchini sauces.  These raviolis were about the best thing I have ever eaten.  We three classmates agreed that they were unbelievably good, and something we had not ever tasted before.

Tagliatelle in tomato sauce.  We learned that the pasta should be cooked in the boiling water for just a minute, then finish cooking in it's sauce.  (Not possible with all sauces, for instance pesto.)

The pasta with red sauce plated.  This was the most amazingly delicious pasta with tomato sauce that I can ever remember eating.  It was divine!!  I sure hope I can duplicate it!

The amazing pesto bow tie pasta.  Fredrico used some mint with the basil for the pesto.  

Instead of pine nuts, he used tasted almonds.  Superb!

Sitting at the table with my classmates, Alex and Taryn, a very friendly married couple from Australia, and Fredrico.

After class, Ray, the boys, and I hopped in the car and drove to Florence.

Of course, next post: Florence

Rome - Part 1

Off to Rome we go!  (We left for Rome on September 6th.)  One the way, we stopped at Herculaneum at the suggestion of a friend.  (I think I will skip the part about getting lost for 2 hours.)  This ancient town was buried under 50-60 feet of ash from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.  Essentially, it was preserved underground unbelievably well for all these years; it began to be excavated in the 1700's.  In 1981, skeletons were discovered near the shoreline.  The skeletons you see in the photos here are molds of the ones they discovered, in their exact positions.  A little creepy maybe, but interesting.  Nicholas decided not to look in that direction.  We literally walked along the streets of the Herculaneum people, stepped into their homes, looked at their wall decorations, etc.

Here are some photo of Herculaneum

As mentioned in the last post, here are photos of "evidence" of the Italian driving scene.  I got out of our rental car in a parking lot, stood in one spot, and took photos of cars I saw from that standpoint.  I suppose insurance is not worth the cost for the Italians.

We arrived in Rome in the evening and went for a walk from our apartment.  We were very close to the Colosseum...wow!  What a spectacle, even in the dark.  :)

On our first day we took a 4-hour bike tour around the city.  Wow, that was such a great activity!  We saw SO much of the city on the bikes...it saved a lot of walking, and gave us more time to see loplentys of other sites, or go back to our favorites, for the rest of our stay.  We saw some "smaller" things, too, that we would not have otherwise walked to.  Biking through the streets and alleys was truly an adventure.

We first stopped at a church (where a woman was practicing her solo for an upcoming wedding) that was originally used as a government building.  It was a fabulous round edifice.

Here we are standing in front of Circus Maximus, the ancient Roman chariot racing stadium that would hold 150,000 spectators.  It's the grassy area with bare patches, and you are seeing only a small portion of it.  In the background are the ruins of Domus Augustana (a vast palace complex constructed by Emperor Domitian in 92AD) on Palatine Hill, one of the most ancient parts of the city.

Here is our bike guide Mikele (had to stop here to fix a flat of another rider) with Palatine Hill in the background

Nicholas is taking a drink from one of the "Roman aqueduct" water fountains, which are found all around the city.  They are great for refilling water bottles!  We also discovered that if you put your hand on the bottom of the spout (like you are trying to stop the water), the water spurts out a hole toward the top of the spout, creating a drinking fountain effect.

 Another shot (lengthwise, but still not the whole thing) of Circus Maximus

Temple of Hercules just hanging out in the middle of town...

Long ago, people would find and take pieces of other buildings or structures (sometimes ruins, sometimes not) and build them into their own places.  (Our guides always called it "recycling".)  So there are random "decorations" on buildings that just pop out at you.  Gives such character to this cool city!

I just thought this was an entertaining sign for "degrees of spicy" ;-}

Fountain of the four Rivers with Egyptian obelisk (taken and transported from Egypt as a "trophy" by the Romans once they conquered Egypt)

Close-up of the fountain at the base of the obelisk

Now to the Colosseum!

Here is where the gladiators fought (20% died) and where all sorts of "games" and spectacles took place for entertainment, as well as executions.  A letter was written by a man who came to visit Rome and see a "show" at the Colosseum.  He said there were 20 hungry lions and 100 elephants put into the ring together.  He said the noise and blood was so horrific that got in a coach and immediately left the Colosseum and Rome, disgusted, never to return.  He said 4 kilometres away he could still hear the animals in the ring.  

And now the Pantheon: the Roman temple built between 118-125AD by the emperor Hadrian; it was dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome.  It was later given to a pope in 608AD and has been used as a church ever since.  When barbarians ransacked Rome, they did not destroy churches.  So the buildings used for churches (even if not the original purpose) are the ones that survived and still stand today.  If it was not a church, it was ripe for destruction.  The Pantheon's architecture was spectacular and innovative with its massive dome.

Nicholas had to do the handstand in the Pantheon

(It was one of his favourite places in Rome)

I am putting in a stupid and ridiculous picture of myself that Nicholas took...because I don't want to!  

I wouldn't, but I am...just for the sake of it.  Ha!

Nicholas sitting at the entrance to the Pantheon at the base of an Egyptian column...again, taken and transported from Egypt.  It is hard to image how they did it.  Those columns are GINORMOUS!  

Nicholas found a quill pen at a fancy paper store.  So cool to write with.  He got the pen and ink and writes his journal entries with it.  Fun!

For the sake of getting this posted, 

ROME TO BE CONTINUED...