Western Mediterranean

6/30 -- 7/12/2015

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[7/1 -- 7/4 Barcelona]  [7/5 -- 7/6 Norwegian EPIC]  [7/7 Naples/Pompeii,  7/8 Rome] [7/9 Pisa/Florence, 7/10 Cannes/Monaco, 7/11 Palma] 


July 7  Naples / Pompeii ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 8  Rome ...

I decided to cancel the shore excursion tours, and went to Rome on our own so we could have the maximum flexibility since I had already pre-booked all the tickets to Colosseum/Forum and Vatican Museum.  I was planning to take train to Rome,  but we ended up hiring a taxi (from the cruise bus stop) to take us directly to Colosseum and had him pick us up at St. Peter's Square at 4PM.

 

 

 

Palatine Hill in Imperial Rome is the most famous of the seven hills of Rome.  By the time of Rome's Republican era, Palatine Hill became the fashionable place to live, due partly to the amazing views on the top of the hill, and also to the belief that the air was cleaner atop the hill and that those who lived on it were less likely to catch the diseases from the bad air below.  Augustus, Cicero, and Marc Antony (Marcus Antonius) all had homes on the hill. Later, emperors built their domains here and, at one point, the entire hill was covered with imperial palaces.

The Forum Romanum was the center of life in Imperial Rome, evidenced by the many remains of triumphal arches, temples and basilicas.   It was the site of the first forum. Here, triumphal processions took place, elections were held and the Senate assembled.  Today, the forum known as the Forum Romanum can look like a disorderly collection of ruins (Arch of Titus, Arch of Septimius Severus, Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, etc.).  Although I tried to study the forum map carefully before the trip, it was still quite difficult to locate and recognize all these historical landmarks from the ruins.

 

 

 

[7/1 -- 7/4 Barcelona]  [7/5 -- 7/6 Norwegian EPIC]  [7/7 Naples/Pompeii,  7/8 Rome] [7/9 Pisa/Florence, 7/10 Cannes/Monaco, 7/11 Palma] 


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