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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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ROME, ITALY
We took a late afternoon EasyJet flight from London Gatwick to Rome's Ciampino Airport. After arriving, we boarded a shuttle and were dropped off at the Termini Station (main train and bus station) about 8pm. We we warned about the Termini area being seedy (What main train/bus station area isn't?), so we hightailed it about 6 blocks to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Romae on Palestro. It was fine and the receptionists were very helpful - though pricey compared to the hostels I usually stay in. It was the first bathroom I've been in where you can touch your nose to the wall while sitting on the tiolet!
On our first day of sightseeing, we walked from our hotel to Santa Maria Maggiore (just 2 blocks past the Termini). Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the four major basilicas, and one of the five Patriarchal basilicas associated with the Pentarchy: St. John Lateran, St. Lawrence outside the Walls, St. Peter and St. Paul outside the Walls, and Santa Maria Maggiore.
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The city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 km from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the center of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Rome's founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, where they were rescued by a she-wolf. The river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna. Mussolini placed an antique Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed QUI NASCE IL TEVERE SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA ("Here is born the Tiber, sacred to the destinies of Rome").
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Built over the pagan temple of Cybele, Santa Maria Maggiore is the only Roman basilica that retained the core of its original structure, left intact despite several additional construction projects and damage from the earthquake of 1348. A patriarchal basilica, Santa Maria Maggiore is often personally used by the pope. Most notably, the pope presides over the annual Feast of the Assumption of Mary, celebrated each August 15 at the basilica. From outside of Santa Maria, we caught the hop on-hop off Green Line bus. This worked well for the day, letting us soak in historic Rome from the top of the double-decker bus. 
After passing the Colosseum, we passed a massive marble structure. The Vittorio Emanuele II Monument honors Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. It is located between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument is built of pure white marble and features majestic stairways, tall Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The monument was controversial since its construction destroyed a large area of the Capitoline Hill with a Mediaeval neighbourhood for its sake.
