The Travels of Eric and Lorna

Monday we took it easier. Almost all museums are closed on Monday, so it's a good day to just wander the historic center, which we did. This is the Turtle Fountain in the center of the former Jewish Ghetto area, which was right across the river from our B&B. This is the Arch of Tolomei . The matching building and the arch date to at least 1358. Our B&B was right behind this. This is the Pantheon , of course. It is one of the best preserved ancient buildings in the world, and is a phenomenal place to visit. We went here several times during our stay. This is the Column of Marcus Aurelius . Near here is a cigar shop that I tried multiple times to visit, but could never catch open. Here's an interior shot of the Pantheon. Well, that's all for now. I am not feeling well (I think I may have caught something on the plane ride back) so I may not post again today. When I am feeling better I'll post about the rest of our trip.

Another picture from the swanky Aventine Hill area. On the way back we stopped at this really nice park on the Aventine. The overlook had a very nice view over Rome, particularly the Trastevere area where we were staying. That large dome in the center of the photo is St. Peters. The caldarium at the Baths of Caracalla. More views inside the baths. Yep, all three of these were inside the building.

So our attempt to go to the Appian Way on Sunday were foiled by the Rome Marathon. Because of this, the whole bus system was shut down for most of the day, at least in the area where we wanted to go. This was, of course, irritating, but if you have ever been to Italy you know that something is always going to go wrong, and you'd better have a plan B. In our case, the plan B was going to see the Baths of Caracalla . It made sense since we were basically right next to them anyway, having travelled to the Circus Maximus metro stop to catch the bus. The baths were a truly amazing attraction. The scale of these baths was just staggering. It is said that the construction took 9,000 workers five years. More pictures of the baths are below, because I forgot that blogger puts the photos in the wrong order. After we visited the baths, we walked around the Aventine hill . This was reportedly a working class neighborhood in ancient Rome, but it is very swanky now. On the way