Romulus and Remus nursed by a wolf, the myth of the founding of Rome, with the Colosseum in the background. The ancient Forum on the right, is like the city center. The three pillars to the right are the remains of the temple of the Vestal Virgins - women devoted their entire lives to living in the temple and maintaining their virginity in order to bring good fortune to Rome. We toured these ruins on our first day at 4 pm, after I recovered slightly from jet lag in our B &B. The entire week was filled with sun in the mid 80s - it was beautiful and not too hot.
Looking up at the Pantheon's 2000 year old still intact concrete dome - amazing!
The Borghese museum where Jeff and I fell in love the Caravaggio and Bernini.
In the Vatican my favorite painting was this one by Raphael - The School of Athens. Plato is the one in the middle pointing to the sky, and Aristotle is on his left. Jeff of course, likes Diogenes on the steps who lived in a wine barrel and flouted the conventions of soceity and was known for his public displays of sexuality and other bodily functions.
On one bridge over the Tibrus River with an ancient bridge remnant in the background. I often carried the tour book in hand because it was obvious that we were tourists, so why try to hide it! The second picture is of Jeff at a restaurant. You can see more ruins in the background - they are everywhere. There was an outdoor piano concert of Liszt and Chopin which we were able to enjoy. I often took his picture at restaurants because they were all so picturesque. The food was even more amazing then expected!
On our last night in Rome, we were able to see a performace of famous arias in the St. Paul Episcopal Church. The music was exsquisitely beautiful. As I get older I find myself more easily moved by music - some of the performances were divine.
Outside our B & B - it was in a very romantic and picturesque part of Trastevere.
