Rome and Milan, Italy

Today we went inside the Pantheon. That is something I have wanted to do since I look AP Art History 13 years ago. It was built two millennia ago and served as a model for St. Peter’s Dome and the Duome’s Dome in Florence. It is a catholic church now that holds regular mass. Raphael, the artist, is buried there.
We took a taxi to Palatine Hill. While we were in the taxi Sam realized that the 40 Euro he had in his pocket was now missing. We figure he was pick pocketed in the metro or in the Pantheon. It made him pretty grumpy for a while that the pickpockets got him. Palatine Hill is a filled with ruins from emperor’s Palaces. It also has the shortest line to get your combo ticket for the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. Thanks for the tip Rick Steves. This saved us hours of waiting outside the Colosseum. The ruins of Palatine Hill were interesting but they were the least interesting of the three sites.
The Roman Forum was ancient Rome’s main square with ruins and grand arches. We listened to an audio tour while walking around and we learn a lot from it. The arches are magnificent and what remains of the temples are pretty amazing too.
Nothing in Rome tops the Colosseum. The size of it is beyond belief. The ancient stadium held 50,000 people. What they did there was beyond belief too. For me it was a little melancholy being there knowing how many people and animals died for the entertainment of the hardened Romans. The engineering truly was marvelous. We also had a great view of the Arch of Constantine and the Temple of Venus and Rome from the balcony of the Colosseum.
We had an extra hour so we visited the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli which used to be the great central hall of the Baths of Diocletian. It was built around 300 A.D. and what is left of the original design, the floor, columns, and some arches is beautiful. We also stopped at Santa Maria della Vittoria which displays St. Teresa in Ecstasy by Bernini. I am so glad that his isn’t in a museum somewhere. It is so much more powerful in the setting that Bernini intended, with real rays of light coming from about the sculpture. (This was shown on Angles and Demons for those of you who saw it.)
After retrieving our bags from the hotel we got on the train to Milan at 5pm. It will take three hours putting us there at 8pm. I am really missing my kids and I still have another week until I will see them. We are having a wonderful time but not having internet in Rome made me feel like I am so very far away from them. I look forward to being able to email them when we get to Milan and hopefully I will be getting an update from Deb, Sam’s mom, or Alycia.