Christmas Day with the Romans

We woke up very late on Christmas Day. We were so exhausted from the huge day we'd had on Christmas Eve, we didn't wake up until about lunch-time. So we had a relaxing Christmas Morning, made some breakfast and some yummy cappuccinos and then started getting ready.

Practically nothing was going to be open on Christmas Day, so we decided to spend the day just wandering the streets since the sun was out and it looked like it was going to be a really nice day.

We strolled along the River Tiber slowly making our way towards the Colosseum. The day was actually turning out to be really warm, and we were way over dressed. I think it was about 12 degrees at least. It made us think of our Christmas in Paris last year when it was about minus three degrees on Christmas Day!

We stumbled upon Capitoline Hill almost accidentally. We walked up the hill from the back, and turned a corner and came into a courtyard with the Capitoline Museums surrounded on three sides. I wasn't joking in my last post when I said we were constantly lost in Rome.

Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Palazzo Senatorio

Nativity Scene

Statue of Castor

Statue of Pollux

The Capitoline Hill also gives you a great view over the Roman Forum and towards the Colosseum. This was our first glimpse of the Colosseum, and we were hoping to visit it that day, however I believe they closed it early due to a part of it falling off!

View over the Roman Forum

Also on Capitoline Hill is the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, which the Romans commonly call the Typewriter.

The monument was controversial since its construction destroyed a large area of the Hill with a Medieval neighbourhood. The monument itself is often regarded as pompous and too large. 

It really does stand out amongst all the surrounding buildings. Not only because it looks a bit like a wedding cake, but it is also blindingly white. It reminded me of the buildings in Oia that were so bright you could hardly look at them in the sun.

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (or The Typewriter)

Trajan's Column - with the bronze figure of St Peter on top

We finally came across the Colosseum in the afternoon. It was shut, but there were still hundreds of tourists milling around, having photo's taken with dressed up Gladiators. They have closed the roads surrounding the Colosseum to help preserve it as much as they can.

The outside was amazing, and a bit more impressive than the inside I think. The streets all around it are full of tacky tourist trucks and people selling stuff on the side of the road. Once again, this really took away from the beauty of it.

It is still amazing to walk up to it as it just rises over the surrounding buildings. It's a similar feeling as to when we were walking towards the Tower of Pisa, and it just appeared in the distance.

Arch of Constantine

This is such an Italian photo. I love Fiats! There were Orange trees everywhere in Rome.

Church of Trinita dei Monti

We left the Colosseum and headed towards the Spanish Steps. It was late afternoon and we were getting pretty hungry, so we wanted to find something to eat that wasn't too touristy and that would be open on Christmas Day. It turned out to be a pretty hard task. We managed to find a little restaurant just down from the Piazza di Spagna that did some alright pasta. Not as yummy as the one we made ourselves though!

Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti (The Spanish Steps)

Another Nativity Scene

View of the Spanish Steps from the Fontana della Barcaccia in the Piazza di Spagna

Fontana della Barcaccia

An Egyptian obelisk of Ramesses II

It was getting dark, and the day had gotten considerably cooler, so we started the relatively long walk back home. There was no public transport on Christmas Day, so we just walked everywhere.

We watched the sun go down in the Piazza del Popolo, which is where we also spent our last few hours in Rome the day we left, in the sunshine.

Store windows full of Christmas toys