May 14th - Ancient Roman Forum

Woo! Colosseum today! (to be honest, Kelsey and I accidentally happened upon it yesterday while exploring. Who'd a thunk you could be wandering the streets of Rome and turn down one with the Colosseum just sitting at the other end? ;) We only glanced for a minute but decided not to explore to far with our tour being the next day).

Even after only being in Rome for 2 days, we were confident enough to take the metro all by ourselves today. World travelers already ;) (Rome only has two lines, they can't build anymore because Roman ruins still remain under the city). We came out of the metro station and BAM! there it was. The Colosseum right across the street.  It's weird to think that just right there at the entrance to the metro, surrounded by bustling streets is such a famous and ancient building. I mean, it's almost 2000 years old!

We met up with our tour guide and she gave us a wonderful tour THROUGH the Colosseum. Did you know that the area where the gladiators fought was covered in sand to absorb the blood and make it less slippery. The world for sand in Latin? Arena. That why we used the term arena when referring to a place where sporting events are held. Cool huh?

After the Colosseum we walked through the streets of modern day Rome in order to get to Ancient Rome. I may have mentioned this earlier, but the new city was literally built right on top of the old one which is why the entrances to ancient buildings are about 15 feet lower than the city streets today.

The forum was in more ruin that I anticipated. There were hardly walls standing for most buildings - just remnants of foundations. The reason some buildings still remained was because they were turned into churches and still used even after the fall of Rome. Kelsey and I hiked up the remains of Nero's palace to find a place to take a break and sketch. The gardens on top were beautiful and we had an incredible view of the city.

I love that although Rome is so populated and covered with buildings, there are still beautiful green trees surrounding everything! We were able to sit for a bit and enjoy the beauty of the forum and sketch (we also had quite the time keeping the pesky pigeons away from us that aren't afraid of humans, and apparently aren't afraid of canes).

After a delicious meal from the market (we finally found food besides panini's at a food stand!). We ate in our hotel room and then enjoyed a lovely nap with the windows open as we listened to the birds outside. The weather was perfect. When we woke up we could hear a rooftop concert across the street playing The Beatles. It was lovely :) The temperature had finally cooled down a bit so we headed back to Rome for our last evening. 

 haha they really do park bumper to bumper even with cars as small as smart cars!

Stephani, Kesley and I whipped out our maps and explored the streets and shops on our own. As the sun set we decided to find the Trevi Fountain to see how beautiful it was at night all lit up. After about 30-40 minutes of walking in circles unable to read Italian signs we finally found it.

Rome was so much fun! I loved the three days we've been able to spend here but I can't wait to get on the cruise ship and get off my feet!