Touring the Rome Sights – Look Better!!

We continued our Turbopass experience on Sept. 4 with 2 scheduled visits – the Pantheon in the morning and Castel Sant’Angelo in the afternoon. It was another lovely sunny morning as we walked to the bus stop but we quickly learned that Rome was having a one day strike action for their Metro service!! Buses were still running but on a reduced schedule. It was a good thing we left early because we had a bit of a wait for the bus.

Our first excursion was the Pantheon. It’s super difficult to put into words the impact of our visit here. This structure defies my understanding of construction. It is truly unbelievable that the Pantheon is still standing after centuries and is still in use for some religious ceremonies. The architecture is only dwarfed by the artifacts inside – paintings, sculptures and many other items adorned every corner of this impressive structure.

After our visit to the Pantheon, we had a few hours of free time before our 2:15pm tour of Castel Sant’Angelo. We walked around the area and found many interesting shops, restaurants and government buildings. We made our way to Trevi Fountain (after a much needed coffee break!) and it was insanely busy!! We didn’t stay long in this area because it was just too crowded. Instead we found a great restaurant in the Piazza Navona. We also paid a visit to a little shop that sold limoncello!! After a wonderful tasting, we settled on 3 bottles (see last photo).

Our second destination for the day was the Castel Sant’Angelo – built in the 2nd century as a mausoleum by order of emperor Hadrian. We arrived early because we had to find the turbopass employee to get our tickets. We couldn’t find this person (who was supposed to be dressed in a red shirt holding an orange umbrella – yeah find that one person in a sea of hundreds!!!) so we went to the information kiosk. The woman there was a bit surly and when we said we couldn’t find this employee, she said “look better’! We had a bit of a laugh after that because it was so unlike all the other Italian tourist employees. Once we got our tickets and entered the Castel, we were very impressive by its condition and the other displays inside. Unfortunately we were all very tired so we were happy to quickly view the castle and then head back to our apartment.

The plan for Sept. 5th was simple – a visit to the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill (all located at the same site). We decided to start our day with a “big bus” tour (hop on, hop off bus). This was a great idea because we had the opportunity to see all the big bus stops in the downtown area. After our bus tour, we had lunch and made our way to the Colosseum. Again words just don’t do this place justice! It took 8 years to build this massive venue with it many arches and columns, plus the incredible underground tunnels and passages.

After visiting the Colosseum, we went to the forum and Palatine Hill. By this time in the day we were all feeling tired and sore (my feet were very unhappy). We quickly walked around the area which was super impressive and spent a bit of time among the ancient ruins. It was very humbling to look around the massive old structures and all the ancient ruins. I think we would have spent more time there if it had been earlier in the day.

Tomorrow (Sept. 6th) is our last day on our turbopass excursion. We only have one scheduled event – the Catacombs of St Callistus – Rome’s underground. After that we’ll probably go see some of the other stops on the big bus route (we have access to the big bus route for another day).