Day Three
Palatino Hill
Breakfast was amazing. We actually got up fairly early. I went to the Palatino ruins (The Imperial Palace) my favorite place so far. Many, many cats live here above the Forum. It is the site of the first Roman residents, 100,000 year old flints have been found here, and the remains of Etruscan huts from 800 B.C.
Hippodrome
Roman Emperors built this palace, and although it is now just brick ruins, it was once magnificent. You can see the Colosseum on one side, the Circus Maximus (which held 250,000 spectators) on the other. A private stadium, the Hippodrome is still fairly intact. In the rainy weather the grass was lush and green, the mosaics bright with color.
Over the forum is the ruins of a 16th century villa and gardens. Many orange trees were full of fruit. Waterfalls and stairs leading down to a cavern looked over the forum. Beautiful views! Met a gentleman from Tuscany in the Forum. The men are very forward here and always want to take you out to dinner. Didn’t have much time at the Forum to explore this day. But it was still amazing climbing through the remains of those magnificent temples.
Temple of Saturn
Then went over to the Pantheon and saw Raphael’s tomb there. The Pantheon is in great shape inside and very imposing! All the light comes from an open circle in the dome. Checked out a few lovely little churchs. Found a used bookstore and bought a print of the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine which showed it before the 19th century excavations. The Arch of Constantine was buried up to its middle as was most of the Forum (which was then a cow pasture and had two rows of trees down the middle). We ate at home, tortelli and sauce, and salad. Finally got an uninterrupted night of sleep. Jet lag is worst this direction! Slept 12 hours and woke up to a glorious sunny day!
Temple of Castor and Pollux (Gemini)
*Mom that's the sketch I gave you!