Circo Massimo

To get to the Baths of Caracalla (see above) we caught the bus to Circo Massimo, once a grand stadium famous for its chariot races, now better known as the place where the whole of Rome came to watch Italy win the football World Cup last year. It is, of course, no longer a stadium, but an oval-shaped park between the Palatine hill and (my favourite) the Aventine hill. Em and I have walked past here a number of times, but this was the first time we actually walked through the park.

There is to this day a dusty track around the inner perimeter that schools use for athletics, but the rest is grass and, the remnants of spring flowers.

UPDATE (July 11): My kiwi friend James has recently informed me that Genesis , who recently reformed for a one off tour band, are playing their final show of their first world tour in 25 years, here in Circo Massimo this Saturday night, in front of up to 400,000 people (Yikes) - minus Peter Gabriel, but with Phil Collins. What's more, its free - the real challenge will be getting a seat. Stay tuned for a review (that is, when I finish my other reviews). She seems to have, an in-vis-i-ble touch-ah...