Our Last Day In Rome💚.

It is our last day in Rome and we have decided to go and see a couple of sites we have not seen before and also revisit some of our old favourites.

We decide to travel by bus to the Circus Massimo to see the remains of the old Roman chariot racing track and the Palatine Area that majestically sits on the hill above it. We also want to walk the beautiful Aventine area which is fairly hilly and has some fantastic panoramic views of St Peters and the Vatican City as well as a vast expanse of the city of Rome.

We catch bus 175 from Termini. A ride on this bus gives us the added advantage of wonderful journey through the older part of the city and we get to see many of the cities ancient buildings and monuments as it meanders it route through the busy cobblestone streets of Rome. Why would you ride the hop on hop off bus, when you can see so much by just riding on the public bus system and you can also get to enjoy seeing and hearing the wonderful Italian people as they go about their daily tasks. This bus trip takes a lot longer than we anticipated, but we end up passing through areas we have not been before and seeing sights that we have not seen before.

 When we get off the bus the first thing we do is to join the end of a long queue of people lined up to go into an old church. They are waiting to see and have their photo taken with the “Mouth of Truth”. It is a very large circle of stone with a very gruff looking face on it and its mouth is a whole into which you can place your hand. Back in the middle ages it was used to test if people were telling the truth. I presume that some must have lost their hand and others then in fear of losing theirs told the truth.
 

Just around the corner is the Circus Massimo. It is a large green grassed area about 400mts long by at least 80mts wide and it has raised grassy banks all around it. In Roman times the raised areas were all terraced so all people attending could get a great view of the games etc. that were taking place on the vast track. I sat and just visualized the chariot race from Ben Hur.

Overlooking this area for the full length of the Circus are the massive ruins of the old palaces on the Palatine Hill. It is really great to see these areas being restored, preserved and looked after so we can see and learn about the history of past. Rome is supposedly still full of ancient Roman sites still to be discovered - so every time we visit there is always something new to see.

 

 The Aventine area with its wonderful views over the whole city was great to see. The public gardens are great to walk through, one was full of large orange trees covered with fruit and another was a beautiful rose garden with an abundance of fragrant roses. We also visited the church of Santa Sabina - one of the first Christian churches in Rome (this was mentioned on the SBS documentary on the Dark Ages that we saw recently.)

 

Over Looking Rome from the Gardens on Aventine Hill

The church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill.

We then walked the full length of the Circus Massimo and around the Palatine Hill to the area where the Colosseum and the Forum are. This is an area that we always love seeing and walking around.

 

This is a great view that includes the Forum and a small section of the Colosseum.

 

The Colosseum is a massive structure and looks different from different viewing points. It is such a shame that all the beautiful marble that once adorned the outside of this building has been removed and used in other structures over the years. We walked right away around the building and took many different photos. After this we rode the Metro back to our B & B. Again we have had a wonderful time in Rome and we both agree all being well we will return again.