2015.05.11 Palatine Hill (Rome, Italy)

Our first post-Coliseum stop - the Palatine Hill.

This was where the imperial palaces once stood. Only ruins remain now.

I had hoped to use Rick Steve's map of the Palatine to navigate my way around the ruin. But while his map had certain advantages, the fact that the map was not drawn to scale made following it really difficult. The lack of visible landmarks for orientation certainly did not help.

I probably would have fared better if I also had this drawn-to-scale map from the University of Texas.

So there, lesson learned - for ruins, bring more than one map and at least one should be drawn to scale.

Accordingly to mythology, the Palatine Hill was where the she-wolf raised the twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

The ruins can be separated into three complexes:
1) Domus Augustana ("Augustan Palace"), named after Augustus, but was actually built by a later emperor. Augustus himself actually lived in a very modest building elsewhere on the hill.
2) Domus Flavian
3) Domus Tiberiana

Stadium

Once a garden encircled by a track.

The palace walls was once covered with marble decors such as this one. 

Courtyard

View from the Palatine Hill - Circus Maximus - the chariot race course, featured in the movie Ben Hur - now a mere strip of gravel. The spectators of the races would sit on the two adjacent hills. 

Shows how tall and multi-leveled the buildings once stood. 

Main Courtyard with Octagonal Fountain

Palatine Museum

Magna Mater ("Great Mother")

Reportedly carved from a piece of.meteorite. The statue had interchangeable heads.

An sample of the frescoes once covered the palace walls.

Samples of the amazing intricate marble marquetry that once adorned the palace walls.

House of Griffins

Nymphaeum of the Mirrors

I really hope that a detailed guide of the Palatine Hill will eventually become available. Better yet, maybe even a digital reconstruction of what the buildings once looked like. As it stands now, the site needs more maintenance and proper signage.

We tried to visit the restored "House of Augustus" and "House of Livia" but gave up after getting a bit lost (Thanks a lot Rick Steve!) Just as well, because as I later found out, a separate ticket is needed for admission that could only be purchased at the forum entrance.

Oh well, next time.

For now, I will have to be content looking at photos other people have posted online.

2015.05.11 Coliseum+Roman Forum Revisited (Rome, Italy)

The day started early. We took the very convenient and very economical ORLY bus, which took us straight from the Denfert-Rochereau station to the ORLY airport. This just re-affirms my love for the Paris public transportation system.

[Sidenote: I also love how the French begins all interactions with "bonjour", whether it's a friend or a bus driver. It's one of those practices that makes you feel good inside. North Americans appear so much more abrupt, in comparison.]

And from the Fiumicino airport, we took the TAM bus, which cost only a fraction of the Leonardo Express train. Plus, the bus drove by the Coliseum, a great welcoming sign that we've officially entered the Eternal City.
After dropping off our luggage, we wasted no time and headed straight for the Coliseum.

It was impressive as ever and as crowded as I remember.

The temporary exhibition displays were great, much better than I remember.  

A whole exhibition section was dedicated to the exotic animals used in Coliseum, including animal skulls that archaeologists had excavated.

I particularly enjoyed these new artist's renditions of how the Coliseum operated.

These cobblestones make me feel like a kid again. As if I'm walking on large, black bubbles. I wonder if Roman kids play hopscotch on them. Should be great fun.

Walking the Via Sacra

Since the Roman Forum is a revisit, I won't write too much about it, because it'd just be a rehash of the post from my previous visit. If you're interested, check it out here. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the photos. (A lot of the photos between the two posts are eerily similar).

Thoughts on the Roman Forum: 

Over all, the Roman Forum has pretty much remained the same, but somehow the awe factor has diminished somewhat from my previous visit. Maybe it's just me, having become more jaded.

I did notice that the Forum has been completely cleared of the marble fragments that used to litter the paths and better signage is now available. Access seemed more limited than before; we could not walk in the Atrium of the House of the Vestal Virgins and had to admire it from outside a fence. I hope it is just temporary because I have really fond memories of walking through the atrium and admiring the row of Vestal Virgin statues.

Lunch: McDonald's (I know, I know, but we were in a rush.)
Dinner: Carrefour

2015.05.10 Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur Basilica (Paris, France)

Montmartre was once the neighbourhood to live, work, and gather for artists, musicians, and those living the bohemian lifestyle. Picasso lived here, so did Dali, Monet, Modigliani, and Van Gogh. The seedy underbelly, this was also were dance halls like the Moulin Rouge populated.

Unaffected by Haussmann's renovation (the reason why the buildings in Paris all look so uniform), the district has retained its historic architecture and authentic atmosphere. 

Although much gentrified, the pickpocketing rate in Montmartre is still relatively higher than the rest of Paris, or so I've been told.

Did I mention the entire neighbourhood is on one huge hill? 

The name Montmartre meaning "Mountain of the Martyr." The martyr, in this case, being Saint Denis. Remember him? The one who got his head cut off and carried it for a while? Montmartre is supposedly where the ugly business went down.

Not wanting to climb too many stairs, we forsook the more popular metro stop Pigalle for Larmarck-Caulaincourt.  

And up the hill we went, towards the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur ("Basilica of Sacred Heart")

The views along the way.

As we neared the basilica,  tourists, shops, and cafe all started to appear in droves.

Seeing how my travel companions have never had a macaron before, I bought one for them to try.

Verdict: somewhat enjoyable but not something they would actively seek out.

Ice cream was far more to their liking. I had the crepe jambon ("ham").

Like many other tourists, we sat on the curb and just watched the crowd go by as we enjoyed our much-deserved treats. 

At one point, there was almost a pigeon situation but my glare of death quickly neutralized the threat. 

Place du Tertre

Where artists display and sell their work.

Some were actually not bad.

And, there it was - Sacre-Coeur

Comparatively, this church is very young in age, having only opened in 1914.

The views. Not too shabby.

Photography was not allowed in the church, so this wikipedia-sourced photo will have to do.

 Look at that beautiful mosaic ceiling.

We were quite lucky to be able to witness an ongoing service. Hearing the church choir sing definitely made the entire experience even better.

And the climb down begun. You had two choices: steep but straight or gradual but zig-zag. As you can see, we started off with the zig-zag.

But switched as we quickly realized that the zig-zag staircase was not not at all level

(I'm guessing to prevent rain water from pooling?)

I guess we now know where all the Parisians go on a sunny Sunday.

On our way to the metro station, we had our first Wallace Fountain encounter.

Founded by Sir Richard Wallace (an Englishman who clearly loved the city of Paris), these public drinking fountains were built in response to the lack of affordable clean drinking water after the Franco-Prussian war.

This is the larger of the two original versions installed. The four caryatids represent kindness, simplicity, charity, and sobriety.

Sobriety was so included because Paris, at the time, had a huge problem of alcoholism; beer being cheaper than water.

Abbesses Metro Station

It has one of the two remaining original Art Nouveau entrances with the glass canopy. 

Beautiful.

Dinner: Chinese Take out from Dragon D'or