A Roman holiday: Part three, Sightseeing

I clicked this at the Colosseum museum, but doesn't this just apply to all of Rome?
I mean where would all of Rome's magic be without its architecture?

Romans were the first ones to develop concrete, superior to what we use now and much more environmental friendly. They solved the problem of distributing heavy loads over long spans by designing arches, supposedly inspired by the small curve in the soles of our feet. It's the centre of Catholic belief, hence abundant churches can be found all over the streets. Some tall, huge with a large cross, or a large dome, or bright colours that you take notice of, immediately, while some small and humble, that you would just walk by them, unnoticed. My brother and I walked into many such churches, unaware of its name and the saint/patron it was dedicated to. Here's a photo of a church we walked right in, and managed to click some photos before its closing time,

I. The Colosseum & Palatine Hill

Then there was the magnificent Colosseum, which we drove around multiple times on the first few days and finally managed to visit on the last day in the city.

Here are a few long exposure shots I experimented while I was there,

Nearby was the picturesque Palatine Hill, which looked right out of my fourth grade history textbook, especially the vegetation, very reminiscent of the paintings and movies made on Roman history.

It was so so large, and it was so hot that day, that I regret not exploring it much. There was so much to see and photograph of this ancient forum, it did become rather tiring.

   II. Parthenon

One my favourite monumental structures, it strikes a perfect chord between minimalism and enormity, using only two simple geometric forms. It was also one of the harder ones to find, located deep within the city lanes onto an opening where all the lanes converge. We walked through lanes and lanes of boutique shops,

found a tall colonnade structure, which wasn't mentioned in any of the tourists brochures, watched artists create quick works of art using just spray cans and a lighter, and passed by a few street side musicians as well.

After the visit inside Pantheon, we sat by the obelisk for a very long time, facing the gigantic structure. It could have been the tiredness, the heat or simply the energy that was buzzing in the area, with throngs of tourists coming and going every minute. But as the sun slowly set, this energy buzzed it's way to the restaurants nearby, livened up with more with the music, the cling and clang of knifes on the plate and the cheerful banter of the diners.

 III. Vatican City

Visiting Vatican city was a dream come true. A place that is so often shown on television, and so often studied in history class, just a mere glimpse of it is, well, a dream come true!

Angels and Demons, anyone? 

The interiors were even more breathtaking. If everything on the exteriors was white, then the interiors only boasted of gold. 

The Vatican city museum was another marvel, glad that I didn't miss out. It was brimmed with marble busts, statues, mosaic, the beautiful and painstakingly detailed embossed ceilings, tapestries and paintings. Here's a look, 

These posts are rather late (and more yet to come!), but while writing, sorting and editing for them, I was truly glad I got to visit such a beautiful place. It was a jam packed four days, each day with its own list of adventures, from the struggle and nervousness of booking tickets on automated machines, to finding directions to the next travel spot, to deciding what to try out for lunch this time! Thank you, Roma for such an amazing time!

Next up, Pisa!