St. Peter in Chains
This morning started with a local guide taking us to San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church had a reliquary under the main altar that is said to be the two chains that were used to imprison Saint Peter in Jerusalem, and later in Rome. It also has a beautiful Michelangelo sculpture of Moses.
Colosseum
We then walked from there to the Colosseum. As part of a group, we were able to skip the long lines of people going in. Most of the enjoyment of the visit was imagining what it might have been like during the heydays of Rome.
After our guide led us through one revolution of the Colosseum, we then got closer to the stadium floor but never did stand on the actual floor. We then visited the toilets before we exited the Colosseum and waited for around 30 minutes for the guide’s transmitter to get fixed.
The Forum
Once the guide’s transmitter was fixed, we toured the ruins of the Forum. The most striking thing about visiting these ruins was that only when they were converted to Catholic churches, were they preserved.
Afterward, the group split up with some going on to the optional tour of other Roman sites, and the others going back to the hotel. We decided to go back to the hotel with plans to visit some other Roman sites on our own after lunch.
After getting back to the hotel, we headed to the St. Mary Major basilica which is one of the four major basilicas in Rome and it was just a block from the hotel. We found a table outside at one of the small sandwich shops and enjoyed some pizza and beer for lunch before checking out the church.
Pantheon
Afterward, we headed toward the Pantheon which we had not visited yet. We took a path that would take us down some streets we had not walked down yet and past the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps. We also took an opportunity to listen to the walking tour by Rick Steves. The Pantheon was definitely the highlight of the walk. It was converted to a Catholic church like many other ancient structures which enabled it to be extremely well preserved. It was also interesting to see the graves of the two kings of Italy as well as Raphael. The Pantheon was also full of beautiful paintings.
Trevi Fountain
We visited the Trevi Fountain again and threw a coin into the fountain. The legend says that if you throw a coin from your right hand backward over your left shoulder, you will definitely return to Rome.
Piazza Navona
We finished our walk by going to the Piazza Navona and the statue called Pasquino. We went back to the hotel afterward and were pretty exhausted by the time we got there. Did I mention that Rome was built on seven hills and our hotel is on one of the highest?
Dinner, La Mela D’Oro
By this time it was dinner time so we looked around for a sidewalk cafe near the hotel called La Mela D’oro. We decided to order and split the special, which our waiter informed us we could do if we ordered another first-course dish. It was definitely enjoyable sitting outside and the service and food were excellent.
Hotel, Gelato
After dinner, we went back to the hotel to pack and then decided since it was our last night in Rome that we should take another walk and get some gelato.