The Roman Forum with the Temple of Saturn at the left. The story behind the photo?

When we checked in at the Villa Pamphili on July 6th I noticed a beautiful black and white photograph (wall size/mural) of the Roman Forum. I fell in love with this scene, not the photo itself, but rather the perspective. I promised myself I would not leave Rome without seeking the same vantage point and taking a similar photo. Our day started outside the Vatican (hotel shuttle’s drop point). From there we went back to the Castle (Castel Sant’Angelo) – but this time we visited the inside. The Castle has a long winding helical stairway, it’s a long way to the top and we cross an elderly American couple who are completely out of breath on the way up. A great view from the top – where we saw that Rome was burning, centuries after Nero. We continued to walk to the wedding cake – inside is a very interesting military museum. There are also lots of great views from this fascinating monument.

Finally we make it to the Roman Forum. We are exhausted by the heat so we enter a beautiful church just to cool off, no AC, just shade. I look around and identify the vantage point I was looking for…bad news, I will need to climb to get there…but nothing will stop me. Determined, I make it up and notice that the focusing ring on my lens is burning to the touch – that’s how damn hot it is this summer. There is a fountain nearby, I dunk my baseball cap under the cold water and put it back on..soaking wet..I start the ascent, perfect..I get a about a dozen shots of the Temple of Saturn with the Coliseum in the background. I could rest now – I was a happy camper.