Castel Sant'Angelo Rome, Part 2

The first day we were at Rome we arrived late afternoon and decided to just walk around the neighborhood we were in. As we walked down our street for a few blocks we started to see some trees in the distance and thought, "hmmm, green space??". We went around the corner and there it was, a castle! Immediately, Delaney wanted to go! It was quite crowded and so we decided that we would go on a day we could get there early when it opened. Two days later we arrived to find we were there 15 minutes before it opened.  This was quite the find! I would recommend looking around Castel Sant'Angelo to anyone going to Rome.

We got there so early we walked on the bridge across from it (Tiber River)

Along the bridge were these beautiful angels. There were probably 12 of them in total.

Obviously this was not only my favorite but the seagulls favorite as well.

Another view of the castle with an angel.

Just before we went in, Tim took this picture.

The inside of the castle was not what we expected. It was very open with a lot of walkways around it.

Here we are one level up from the ground. The views were beautiful no matter what level you were on.

A part of the inner wall.

Here is a view of the bridge we were on.

A view of the ground level from above. Notice the piles of cannonballs.

These were everywhere.

Love how the cannon is sticking out and there is the space to use your crossbow or gun.

This was pretty cool!

A view from higher up.

I found this sculpture to be interesting with the wings

The Capitol area in the distance and what the locals call "the Wedding Cake" building. Two giant metal sculptures of the Goddess Nike on top.

Not only was this a castle but it used to be the apartments for the Pope. In fact there is a long raised aqueduct looking walkway for the Pope to travel along if there is any reason for him to leave the Vatican. Here are some pictures inside the castle. There were the Pope's Apartments and a nice museum. It is also the Mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian.

When you first go in there is this inner walkway that swirls up and down the castle.

It also goes all the way around it.

As always, I find myself looking up. This is the ceiling in one of the Pope's rooms.

While the painting was not clear I found it pretty interesting that they painted this on a door.

This beautiful piece of art was on one of the walls.

I took a picture of this harpsichord (I'm pretty sure it's a harpsichord) for my Dad. It was in the Pope's bedroom.

Another narrow walkway up to another area of the museum

This was in the museum as well.

Being a book lover, I was fascinated with this collection. It is a list of all of the Italians who died during World War 1.

A military drum.

Some of the many weapons on display.

And more weapons.

There were quite a few pieces of armor.

At the very top was the Archangel Michael. It was quite stunning.

Another great view.

Overall, this was a great day even though it was cold. Delaney says it was her favorite place to see in Rome.

Off to Rome Part 1

One of the benefits of living overseas is all the new places that we get to explore.  For us Rome has always been on our short list of places that we would love to experience.  New Years provided us with the perfect opportunity to visit this one of a kind city.  We enjoyed seeing all of the regular amazing sights, but we also liked finding those hidden gems of travel.  One thing we all said about Rome.... IT WAS COLD!!!!  I guess our blood has thinned from living in Beirut and its moderate temperatures.  The first place we went was of course the Roman Coliseum!  Usually when we travel we do not go for the guided tour, it just seems to take away from the experience for us.   For some reason we stopped to talk to one of the people who were selling tours and stumbled onto a truly amazing experience.  Here are some of the many pictures that we took of this amazing building.

It was a very beautiful morning and this was one of our first views of the coliseum

As I mentioned we took an amazing tour of the building,  One of the areas that was included was down in the dungeons where the gladiators and animals were kept.   This area is only open to special tour groups under 20 people.  Our group was the only group in here during our allotted time

Family picture time.... we were freezing!

During its first two years of existence the Romans fought naval battles on the coliseum floor. This is one of the ways in which water was let in.  Water was flowing through it when we were there.

A view of the dungeons and the floor

A tour group on the floor

Our group on the floor of the Coliseum.  This again was part of the special tour that the general public did not get to do.  

Our little Roman in her colorful hat!

Not many people realize this but the Coliseum is a consecrated Christian place because one of the Popes saved it from destruction by declaring it a holy place. Christians were put to death in the arena thus the reason why it was consecrated.

A view from another restricted areas.  This is from the top where the slaves and women watched the games.   The tour was a great deal because we saw the restricted areas, the Roman Forum, and we did not have to wait in line.... best 50 Euros we spent on the whole trip!

Just a normal weekend in Beirut....

On Saturday morning we went to Souk el Tayeb. This in an open air farmer's market at the Beirut Souks (which is pretty much an outdoor mall).  Our friend Dania took us and we had a nice morning. While we've been there before we have always been later and therefore much is already sold. We were quite surprised at how much was there and how busy it was! Here are some pictures!

This is the empty building behind the Souk.  I thought it was beautiful.

Our first stop was to get honey.  We always get our honey from Habib Honey. Their honey is incredible. Delaney and Janna are looking at the bees they brought in the honeycomb. They also have a centrifuge on hand and are making honey right there. This time we bought Cedar Honey. It tastes great in my morning coffee!

We then went to Dania's friends booth from the north near Tripoli.  They have all organic fruits and vegetables. We bought apples, tangerines, kiwis, pomegrantes (that were HUGE!!), carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

As you can see the food looks great here!

They sell all kinds of things at the souk.  There is a man that sells all things wicker and this lady sells clay cooking pots and trays.

We then went to purchase some great treats for later. These little pastries have "wild greens" in them. Not sure what they were but they were really good! Especially with Labneh  (something they have here that is a cross between sour cream and cream cheese)

They also had these pastries. On the left there some are filled with cheese and some are filled with thyme. The ones on the right have lamb. All quite good. In the background is my all time favorite! Kibbe!

The kibbe above is a stuffed kibbe. It is meat (usually a mix of beef and lamb) that is stuffed with spices and sauteed onions.  The one in this picture is made of chickpeas.  Yes, kibbe for everyone!
By the way, the woman who made these treats was named "The Queen of Kibbe" by Anthony Bourdain when he came here to make a TV show.

Next to the vegetarian kebbe were these sweet treats. I love how everything is made in these big round pans.

Here is another view of the end of the souk.

Here are more stands. Notice all of the canned goods. They have pickled mozzarella balls, olives, seasoned feta and all kinds of things! All of the cookies and pastries are boxed up as well. 

We then had some manouche.  The woman in the back is making fresh bread to go on the round grill. The woman in front is putting zaatar (thyme with olive oil and sesame seeds) on the one in the front. The one in the back has cheese. They then add vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers if you want and fold it up. It's the best street food EVER!

That was part of our Saturday. We then went to Wesley's, otherwise known as the Beirut Costco, to get food for Home of Hope. Home of Hope is an orphanage we have taken to donating to. Last week we had the ACS book fair. The middle school students and teachers created baskets to auction off. We earned 400,000 Lebanese Lira on our 5 baskets. (That's about 275 dollars) With that we bought food to donate.

We will take this up to the orphanage with shoes, books and other things tonight!

On Sunday, Janna and I also went on a morning walk along the Corniche.  Here are a few more pictures of this awesome place we walk along every day!

As always, there are people fishing along the Corniche. A lot of people were swimming as well.

Here comes Janna on her bike! They also had no traffic on the road because there was a triathlon going on. 

And the lighthouse towards the end of the Corniche.  If I walk from the beginning of the Corniche to a little past the lighthouse and back home its about 5K.

Overall, once again, a great weekend! It's always hard to think it's December here when it's 75 degrees and beautiful!