Jun 2: Our first explorations

Is this really our third day? It feels like we've been here a week!

Yesterday, the 2nd, was a special day for Italy. It was the celebration of the republic, akin to our 4th of July. This year they are also celebrating 150 years since the unification of Italy, so we were expecting big things. Well... we were disappointed. There was a parade, but it was strictly military  - not much more than a procession of units and marching bands and some antique military vehicles. The coolest part was that some planes flew overhead three or four times at low altitude streaming green, red, and white smoke (the colors of the flag). Other than that, there didn't seem to be any celebration at all. Very strange!

The Italian Colors fly over the Monumento Nazionale

We started off the day by descending to the banks of the Tiber, which has been enclosed in very steep walled embankments to prevent its flooding of the city (a frequent historical occurrence). We stood beside a 2000 year old bridge leading to the Tiber island before crossing it. The island is home to a functioning (religious?) hospital and a gorgeous Catholic cathedral. (You may remember the island from its appearance at the end of Angels & Demons.) Then we visited a round temple just beside the Tiber, supposedly one of the oldest Roman temples to use marble. You can't enter and it's looking pretty beat, but it was cool. We surveyed a small old arch with curious history, and a really beat up four-sided arch beside it.

Looking down the Tiber. The island is the land on the left.

Then we headed over to the Theater of Marcellus, which looks very much like a mini-Colosseum, except for the very noticeable exception that an apartment building has been placed on the third story. Evidently, building housing complexes on top of ancient Roman ruins is something the Italians don't think twice about. Across from the theater were some cool old temple ruins, with a few freestanding tall pillars.

We stayed and watched the parade awhile before heading up the road, up the ancient Capitoline hill. At the top of the hill, today, is the Monumento Nazionale, which is a HUGE marble monument (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Vittorio_Emanuele_II). We picnicked in its shadow while the parade ended and watched Italians and tourists go about their day. Then we ascended the Capitoline in earnest, up to the piazza constructed by Michelangelo, centering on a statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse. We visited the Aracoeli, a bizarre and beautiful cathedral at a very high point on the hill, just behind the Monumento Nazionale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Aracoeli).

Then we went into one of the national museums in the plaza, where we saw a lot of really cool original sculptures and busts. In that museum are the only existing foundations of the Temple to Jupiter which once occupied the hill. The Temple was absolutely massive, and was built in 500 BC, so it's really a shame that so little/nothing is left of it except for a few drawings and descriptions and a few foundations of one corner.

At the top of the museum we got an incredible view of Rome. Before leaving, we stopped by the ruins of an ancient shopping center/apartment complex that is literally leaning against the monumento nazionale and the stairs to the Aracoeli. Finally, beat, we headed back home, showered, and ate dinner. After dinner, just at sunset, we walked past the American Academy to an awesome park on the Janiculum hill overlooking Rome.