Roma! (Day 1)

After Florence and Venice, we decided a few days in Rome would be nice.. That and out flight back to Sardinia was leaving from Rome the next day..

We took the train from Florence to Rome.. Someone could barely keep his eyes open!

First stop after checking in at the hotel was the Colosseum..

Then, down to the top of the Piazza de Spagna (Spanish Steps). The first picture is looking up and the second is looking down.

We stopped at the top to take a few pictures of this fountain..

Then over to the Mausoleum of Augustus. It was built in 28 BCE. For you watchers of the HBO Series- Rome.. He was Octavian who then became the heir of Caesar and took the name Augustus..

A stopover at the Trevi Fountain..

Then off to the side was a street performer who just looked amazingly like a statue. I gave him a few euros to take a photo and he tried to grope me!

Over to the Pantheon-

Piazza Navona--

It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. It was defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century.

Campo di Fiori and the statue of Giordano Bruno.

Why is Signor Bruno so important? 

He was born in 1548 and died, here on this spot in 1600. A Heretic. He was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. His cosmological theories went beyond the Copernican model in proposing that the Sun was essentially a star, and moreover, that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited worlds populated by other intelligent beings. He was burned at the stake by civil authorities in 1600 after the Roman Inquisition found him guilty of heresy for his pantheism and turned him over to the state, which at that time considered heresy illegal. After his death he gained considerable fame, particularly among 19th- and early 20th-century commentators who, focusing on his astronomical beliefs, regarded him as a martyr for free thought and modern scientific ideas.

"Il Vittoriano" aka- The Wedding Cake

The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II-- It is a monument built to honor Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Leonardo Bistolfi and Angelo Zanelli. It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935.

Firenze! (Florence, Italy)

We arrived in Florence at the Train Station, Santa Maria Novella Station. It was different, not as opulent as the stations that we had seen so far. 

We headed around the corner and found Via Fiume #17 to the Hotel Duca d'Aosta.  It was a renovated palace once owned by the Medici family. It wasn't the greatest place in the world but for 35 Euros a night, it'll do!

After we checked in, we immediately went for a walk downtown to see a few sights..

First stop was the Basilica del Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flowers)

Below the chapel is a crypt. The archaeological history of this huge area was reconstructed through the work of Dr Franklin Toker: remains of Roman houses, an early Christian pavement, ruins of the former cathedral of Santa Reparata and successive enlargements of this church. Close to the entrance, in the part of the crypt open to the public, is the tomb of Brunelleschi. While its location is prominent, the actual tomb is simple and humble. That the architect was permitted such a prestigious burial place is proof of the high esteem he was given by the Florentines.

After the crypt, we headed into the Piazza del Senoria where we had a bite to eat and then headed into the Palazzo Vecchio, which literally means Old Palace.

We headed inside:

We left the palace and headed down the the Ponte Vecchio. It's amazing! Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times, when the via Cassia crossed the river at this point. The Roman piers were of stone, the superstructure of wood. The bridge first appears in a document of 996. After being destroyed by a flood in 1117 it was reconstructed in stone but swept away again in 1333 save two of its central piers, as noted by Giovanni Villani in his Nuova Cronica. It was rebuilt in 1345, hence what we see today.  During World War II, the Ponte Vecchio was not destroyed by Germans during their retreat of August 4, 1944, unlike all other bridges in Florence. 

This was allegedly because of an express order by Hitler because he thought it was attractive.

We walked around for a little while longer and saw the old Medici Palace and Dante's Home...

A little Video: