We awoke to a slightly cooler and drizzly morning on the day of our side trip to see the famous ruins of Pompeii. The high-speed Frecciarossa train took us from Rome Termini to Napoli Centrale station, where we transferred to the separate station for the local Circumvesuviana commuter train to Pompeii. While waiting for the local…
First off, my apologies to REM for the title… Scavi (Excavations) Tour We actually went underneath St. Peter’s Basilica before we went inside it! The Vatican offers a tour of the necropolis underneath the basilica, where St. Peter’s tomb is located. Archaeological excavations during the last century uncovered a rather extensive group of graves dating…
The Vatican’s art collection vast, to put it mildly, and definitely something not to be missed even if you don’t have time to soak in every piece. From sculptures to paintings…from unknown artists to masters such as da Vanci, Raphael, and Titian…it’s a feast for the eyes and a bit overwhelming at first. The big…
The iQ Hotel Roma turned out to be one of my favorite hotels among recent trips. Our family typically will seek out a mid-range hotel with good local transport options and convenient food choices as well. So with that background we settled on the iQ Hotel, in a room with one double bed and a…
The 1st century AD Arch of Titus looms large upon entering the Roman Forum. One of many such honorary or triumphal arches in Rome (and elsewhere in Europe for that matter), it was constructed as an homage to Emperor Titus by his brother, Emperor Domitian. Titus earned fame within the Roman Empire for leading many…
Naturally we had to pay a visit to the Flavian Amphitheater, aka The Colosseum. Getting there was pretty straightforward as our hotel was near the Republica metro stop. This meant we only needed to go one stop to the Termini metro stop and transfer to the “B” line to the Colosseo stop just across the…
Whenever possible we like to walk around a bit the first evening after arriving in our destination. It helps to get some exercise before bedtime and adjust to the jet lag. Besides, evening is an interesting time of day to observe the local happenings – people are getting off work, going out to eat, doing…
Temple of Vesta I’d say that the Forum was my favorite spot in our visit to Rome this past spring. Although it’s a small piece of the ruins, I had really looked forward to seeing the remnants of the Temple of Vesta. As a boy, my parents would occasionally play the song A Whiter Shade…
One must-do item on our agenda, at the insistence of our daughter, was a visit to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour: http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk Which isn’t to say that her mother and I aren’t fans of the books and movies, either! Taking public transportation to the WB studio is pretty easy, even though it lies…
With an empire that spanned so much of the globe, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Great Britain’s collection of historical and cultural artifacts is vast. The works housed in the British Museum are indeed many and varied….Egypt, Greece, Rome, Asia, Africa, the Pacific, the Americas…most major portions of the world are represented…
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