Just Wandering

Any tour of Italy would be incomplete without substantial visits to church and museums, featured in the photographs below. Compared to Florence, I found Rome to be a larger, more tropical, and somewhat more modern city. Both, however, are steeped in rich history, as well as sumptuous Italian cuisine.

Rome:

A view of Rome from atop the city's highest hill. A fine dining option: the Rome Cavalieri features the city's only three Michelin star estalishment: La Pergola.

Of course, any visit to Rome would be somewhat incomplete without a visit to the Colosseum. Be aware that the lines can get extremely long here, and visitors can wait for hours to enter on a given busy summer day.

The Altare della Patria is a monument to Italy's first king, Victor Emmanuel, who first unified the nation. Don't let the steps out front fool you, its a bit of a climb.

For a fee, visitors can take an elevator to the very top of the monument for views of the city and nearby Roman Forum (pictured here).

The top of the monument offers a 360 degree view of the city.

Impressive, indeed.

The Colosseum can get quite crowded, but its an impressive site to behold. Unbeknownst to many, there was a intricate network of tunnels underneath the arena of the amphitheater known as the hypogeum (first photo, bottom center & second photo, bottom left). This network was conducive to everything from providing a private entrance for the emperor, a inlet for performers, and cages for the beasts and gladiators before the fight.

The Castel Sant'Angelo

Exterior of the Altare della Patria

Piazza del Popolo, the two churches of Santa Maria

Florence: