Rome - The Roman forum and the Palantine Hill

Yes, we are back in the United States now.  In fact, we are in Tacoma, WA preparing to drive our "stuff" down to Surprise, AZ to live near my folks in the Warm of Arizona.  But, I'm still catching up on posting for Rome and I have all these great photos!

So, after the "outrage"and on Christmas Eve, we bought the combination ticket to visit the ruins of the Roman Forum, the Palantine Hill, and the Colosseum.  We still have the remaining ticket to go inside the Colosseum and it's good for one year, so maybe that will happen.  But, we started at the Roman Forum and we are so glad we did.  You can see all these ruins from the main street, but it is not the same as wandering among them and listening to Rick Steves explain them.  My favorites were the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, the Julius Caesar's temple, and the gardens on the Palantine Hill.

The Arch of Constantine.  This is where the processions would enter the Forum grounds, bringing  tribute and  slaves from distant wars to present to the Roman Government and the Emperor.

The processions would stop at the Treasury to "drop off" the  captured treasures and continue to stand before the Forum.

Steve found a nice place to sit.  These "fallen" marbles appear to be set there for this purpose, but it seemed a little  naughty to sit there.

The back side of the Temple of the Vestal Virgins.  The complex was much larger to house the priestesses and they had a huge garden for contemplation, surrounded by statues of past priestesses.

Part of the Vestal gardens.  It was the size of a football field.  You can see the Palantine Hill rising above it.

That single column in the center was the Rostrum, where anyone (or maybe just senators?) could stand and deliver his (you know, it was a him) opinion and make announcements.  There were many more columns and the Temple of Saturn behind was huge.

This is taken from the opposite side of the Forum ruins, looking out toward the Arch of Constantine in the distance.

The view of Rome from atop the Palantine Hill

The Gardens on the Palantine Hill, overlooking the Forum, must be glorious at the height of Summer.  Here you see the Prickly Pear that I see all over Arizona and saw all over Malta.  It seems to be ubiquitous.

The rose gardens here are surrounded by beautiful citrus trees.  We saw citrus trees (orange, lemon, lime) all over Spain, too.  They seemed to be a sort of gift from the government to the people, a source of beauty and sustenance.

Me and the twilight Forum behind

The Colosseum viewed from the Palantine gardens

The palaces built on the Palantine Hill must have been gorgeous and imposing.  You can still see the landscaping.  This Roman pines are really something.  I love the silhouette of trees, especially these trees.

The distant view of Rome through an ancient portal on the Palantine Hill

When we were kicked out of the Forum, we ended back at the Colosseum, as the gods intended.  It was sunset and somehow I was able to lighten this up to look like daylight.  Hmmm...

Christmas Day dawned and you could hear the bells of the church next door and all the churches all over Rome ringing and ringing and ringing.  It was a moment that I will always remember; standing next to the open casement windows hearing those joyful bells.  There was no one around; everyone seemed to be inside listening, too.