Our time in the eternal city of Rome

This was our last side trip before Japan! When we got to Rome it was eight at night and we had to find our hotel and some dinner! We got a taxi to the area but still had to find our host. On the trip there we got a big surprise as we drove past the Colosseum! We found our hotel with no trouble and then we found some dinner where I got some really yummy ravioli!
The foods in Italy are super yummy, I especially loved the pasta: Cacio e Pepe, Ravioli and Gnocchi. There was also margarita pizza, parmigana, panini and of coarse gelato from Rome's best gelaterium; Venchi!

The next morning we were off to do our e-bike tour around Rome. When we got there we were given the coolest e-bikes, I got a Cannondale! Osh, Mum and Dad also had e-bikes too. Osh also loved his e-bike as it was a mountain bike like mine.

Colosseum: The first stop was the world famous Colosseum! We did see it in the taxi but we got to see it from a whole different view. I will talk about the Colosseum again later.

Piazza Navona: Piazza Navona was a horse racing track in ancient times!

Pantheon: The Pantheon was a Roman temple,dedicated to the pagan gods of Ancient Rome. It was built in the year AD 118 - 125.

Spanish Steps: The Spanish Steps are a very popular gathering place. The stairs lead to the Trinita dei Monti church on the top of the hill. The reason it is called the Spanish Steps is because the Spanish Embassy is there. There is a famous fountain at the bottom in the shape of a boat by Bernini.

Trevi Fountain: Next stop was the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain is a very famous fountain that people come from all over the world to see. It is powered by the ancient aquaducts, which I will explain later.

Then we went to the Vatican State, the place where the Pope lives. There we wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel where Michael Angelo painted the roof and the wall behind the altar! It was so amazing that when you looked up it was so colourful and decorative!

In the early afternoon we set off to do another bike tour, the first one was so great we wanted to do another! It was a rainy day so it wasn't looking as good as it could have. Luckily for us it cleared up and all was good.

The first stop was Circus Minimus. It wasn't actually a circus though, because in Italian 'circus' means circuit. It was an old horse racing track that was owned by the Emperor of that time to amuse him.

The next major stop was at the Catacombs. Catacombs are underground tombs where Catholic people buried their dead before Christianity was accepted in Ancient Rome.

After the catacombs we went to the ancient aquaducts that I talked about earlier that powers the Trevi Fountain. The Romans built these amazing pipes like stone tunnels that brought the water from the Italian alps into Rome to power all the fountains and taps and some of them still exist today! When the Barbarians tried to invade Rome they failed, so they destroyed a lot of the aquaducts so the Romans had to flee because they were all dying of thirst and then they killed them. That is why only some exist now!

Then we rode off to have a snack, we took lots of back streets to find this amazing farm where we had bread, chips and cheese. The food was really yummy and the cheese was homemade by the owners of the farm!

On the way back we saw Circus Maximus. Again, circus means circuit. So this was just a bigger version of Circus Minimus, but with less ruins remaining.

The Colosseum: I couldn't believe I was seeing the world famous Colosseum and got to go in it! The Colosseum is where the Roman Gladiators used to fight each other and other wild animals! It was so amazing imagining what used to happen right where you are! It is such a shame that the Romans stripped the Colosseum of all its marble to make their newer buildings!

I loved Rome a lot especially because everywhere you looked there was history.