The Eternal City of Rome

Hi all,

We had hoped to do both Rome and Naples/Pompeii during our four days in the area. However, creeping travel fatigue and the long day spent at the Circus Maximus left us too wiped out to do anything the next day. We decided to take an organized tour around the city's major monuments the day after that just so that we could let someone else do the hard work. Naples and Pompeii will have to wait for another trip.

At the Trevi Fountain

Jennifer lending our tour guide a helping hand

The Roman Forum

This morning I decided to take JCW MCS for a drive around the city to re-visit some of the spots we saw the day before.

I managed to get JCW MCS in some interesting locations in Rome.

One Lap of Rome

At the Vatican

Circus Maximus and Genesis

Our first full evening in Rome was spent inside the Circus Maximus. Genesis performed a concert and there was a massive audience present; I would guess 200,000 but I have read that upwards of 400,000 attended from BBC News. Wow! To be in the ancient location of chariot races with a seat opposite the Palatine Hill where the leaders of Rome erected magnificent palaces made the concert venue truly one-of-a-kind. Directly across from us we could clearly see the remains of those magnificent buildings.

As a Phil Collins fan I was very pleased to see Genesis. The ancient Roman surroundings just made the event that much more special! We had to put up with a lot of dust and a huge number of people and Jennifer was pushed to the breaking point but she decided to stay and enjoyed the show. We knew that opportunities like this don't come too often!



Genesis performs in the Circus Maximus in Rome. Note: musical content is the copyright property of Genesis. This clip is intended solely to give an impression of the event and location.

The Circus Maximus in Rome and Genesis

Spent the better part of the day at the Circus Maximus in Rome. We went not only to see the ancient location of chariot races and huge spectacles just south of the Roman Forum and Colosseum but also because the rock group Genesis was in-town for a concert. It was a unique opportunity to listen to the group perform with what must have been about 100,000 concert goers while surrounded by ancient ruins. A special evening, if not for the tough dusty and crowded conditions in the ancient venue.

I have more to post including pictures and video clips of the past two days but I'm still on a painfully slow mobile connection. Our next hotel will hopefully have normal broadband service.