Italy - Last Day!

Our last full day in Rome, we explored the Pantheon and nearby areas before moving to a hotel near the airport in the afternoon. The Pantheon was originally built in 27 BD by Marcus Agrippa (the Emperor's son in law) but it was damaged by fires and the structure we see today was rebuilt around 120 AD by Emperor Hadrian. There are 16 columns inside 40 feet tall and 15 feet around made of red and grey granite (one piece of granite each). The height of the rotunda at the top of the dome is 142 feet high which is also how wide the room is. The oculus at the top is 30 feet wide and the only light source. 

Left: The tomb of Umberto the first, and his Queen consort, Margherita (King of Italy from 1878 to 1900).

Above & left: The tomb of Raphael.

Above, Left and Below: Area is set up for a Catholic Mass (this was 3 days before Easter).

Left: Tomb of Victor Emmanuel II First King of a united Italy 1861 - 1878.

Carlton took a quick video of the Pantheon to try to give an idea of how big it is!!

Pantheon Video

Right: Ancient architecture being excavated.

Piazza Navona with the Fountain of Neptune (currently being repaired)

Also in the Piazza is the Fountain of Four Rivers by Bernini with a Roman obelisk rising in the middle. The four rivers represented in the fountain are: Danube, Ganges, Nile, and Rio de la Plata.

The fountain was enormous!

Left: This is the Fountain of the Moor.

More of the Piazza Navona.

And we found a mime!! So we had to take pictures with him, of course!

Left: A market we stumbled upon during our walk. They had everything from clothes, lotions, spices, and food.

Left: Stairs leading up to Capitoline Museums.

Right: Statue of Marcus Aurelius in front of Capitoline Museum.

Right: Statue of Romulus and Remus - twin brothers in Roman mythology who founded the city of Rome. They were raised by a She Wolf after the King ordered them to be placed in a basket and placed in the Tiber River.

Right and next few pictures: Gigantic Victor Emmanuel Monument. Built in 1861 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country's unification.

This monument is 200 feet high and 500 feet wide. The statue in the center is the King on his horse and is 43 foot long, one of the largest equestrian statues in the world. People can go to the top of the building to get a view of the city.

Left: Just your average police car - an Alpha Romeo.

Right: This picture is just to show you the people on top of the Monument, to give you scale!

We moved to a hotel connected to the airport and this was our last gelato before leaving the next morning.

Our super spacious hotel room that we only got to enjoy for one night!! It was NIIICE!

Ginormous jar of Nutella at the breakfast buffet the morning we left - the kids had to take silly photos with it.

The beginning of our long flight from Rome to Minneapolis - 10.5 hours!

Little playarea we found in the Minneapolis Airport during our 5 hour layover.

Gavin and Mommy taking naps on the second leg of the trip - 4 hour flight from Minneapolis to Salt Lake! Luckily our flight was pretty empty and there were whole rows free to lay down!

That is the end of our trip to Italy!! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!