WOW!! This was so much more than I anticipated. Our "regular" tour day had ended. But, optional #2 (Guided visit to Colosseum & Roman Forum) was still on for the day. Cost 54.00 Euros (per person remember things on tours are per person costs). Well, yeah, we were in Rome naturally we wanted to see The Colosseum and Forum. We started first thing in the morning remember with walking tour, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Bramante Stairs, Trevi Fountain and The Pantheon....but we signed up for this optional.
I would have enjoyed it more had it not all been the same day. Really...lots of walking (more than I had been able to do since breaking my foot), and it was HOT! But, we'd travel just under 6,000 miles I think the flight monitor said to get to Rome...........so. Here were are.
Still in Rome and still day 3...yes it was a very full and busy day! This is Ernie either checking his phone to see if he got the picture or getting ready to take a picture as we approach The Pantheon. This was one of my Rome highlights. The building is a true marvel. It's gorgeous, it's massive, it's impressive inside and out.
This close up shows you holes in the cement. Our guide Ziggy told us those are holes that have been drilled to add steel (in my mind I though rebar when she talked) for strength.
The Pantheon was a Roman Temple and is now a Church, an active church. The earlier temple was commissioned by Marcaus Agrippa during the rein of Augustus, and completed by Hadrian about 126 A.D. There are several important burials there: Raphael The Painter, Annibale Carracci also a painter, Arcangelo Caorelli a composer, and Baldassare Peruzzi an architect. Raphael perhaps the best known is there on the left where you see the statue.
