Roman Holiday IV - Roman Forums and Palatine Hill

After a few hours of must needed sleep we were ready to tackle the rest of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Circo Massimo…oh and not to mention those dreaded escalators in the Metro!


We headed out via our new quick mode of transport and walked down to the Colosseum, past the Arc of Constantine towards Palatine Hill.


Now there are a few things I feel I should mention here. 1. It was sunny, in fact one of the most beautiful days we have had. 2. The line into the Colosseum was crazy long BUT free entry due to the mentioned Roma Day coming up. 3. The men and women dressed up were out in full force. Whilst Tom and I were gazing at the ridiculously long line and congratulating ourselves for coming yesterday a Fabio lookalike gladiator snuck up behind me and informed Tom that he could ‘kill the wife’.


It was all very amusing and I have to admit he was the best looking amongst the lot. Many looked like they had thrown on their bed sheets or raided their wardrobe for dress ups. If they were working on pure tips this guy would be bringing in the dosh as he was well dressed for his character and he had the looks and the body to make you believe he could be a gladiator! We joked with him for a bit then continued on our way only to be stopped by a man yelling out to us that he ‘loves USA USA, USA number one!’ Of course he wanted us to buy something and once again we were being accused of being American. This happened a number of times to our horror.


We ended up with free entry into Palatine Hill and the Roman Forums due to the Roma day and we didn’t have a wait… all the tourists were lined up at the Colosseum.


It was impressive walking through the ruins, seeing where they held parliament and my favorite Augustus house. WOW! You could go in a few at a time and see where they had preserved and still working on his house. You could also see archeologists working as well!


Looking over Cicrus Maximus was interesting as well. It was here that they held the chariot races...of course all the old roman movies ran through my head as I imagined what it would have been like back then.


We also visited a museum which was build around a dig site and part of the earth and excavation was part of the structure. We avoided the school excursions and quickly moved onto the gardens area and it was here that we found Wally!


We encountered a compete tool of an American. A chubby loud American was with 2 giggling female friends pretending to give them a tour. As per usual he was very loud and quiet rude. We met up with them a number of times and my mouth got the better of me and I said in a loud voice to Tom ‘what a wanker’ one of the ditzy girls heard me. Needless to say we hung back away from them as he was totally spoiling the atmosphere.


After a great view of the Roman Forums from a good lookout it was off into the Forums. To think that the likes of Cesar, Titus and Augustas walked these same paths and made critical decisions regarding war was mind blowing, another wow factor again. The forum served as a city square and central hub where the people of Rome gathered for justice, and faith. The forum was also the economic hub of the city and considered to be the center of the Republic and Empire.


It rained on and off but just enough to be annoying. Walking, walking and more walking. Walking in straight lines, over uneven cobble stones, up and down stairs and zig sagging in and out of tourists. After many many hours of wandering these great ruins it started to feel like I was just seeing another rock and pile of marble and stone much to Tom’s horror!


We continued on to Capitol Hill and walked down some more stairs only to be mobbed by a massive group of yellow scarf and hat tour groups (little did we know that they would be following us where ever we went).


Once again we found ourselves very tired, had sore feet and empty tummies.


As we walked to the metro we spied a groovy looking Italian restaurant that had a lovely sidewalk setting. It was here that I had the yummiest lasagna I have ever eaten. There was also a singing waiter that looked like Super Hubert and sounded like the Swedish Chief from the Muppets as he sung nonsense words. Very very funny!!


After dinner we walked on down towards the metro which is right next to the Colosseum so we got to see it all lit up of a night and boy did it look grand!


Back home and a change in routine. We were not to fall into a comatose state straight away, we had to do our washing, or should I say I had to do our washing and by hand!


Rome is so expensive. I am loving the city itself but the people are very different to people back home. It is safe to say that I am sick of the hawkers and their pushy ways and how expensive everything is.


Finally it was time for bed and you guessed it…asleep before our heads hit the pillow.

*More photos to come!

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Part of trip: Living The Dream

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