Roman Forum and the Coliseum!

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A super hot day, and a super interesting time!

The day started great with a good breakfast, gosh they have the best Juice here, and with a nice long stroll to the Roman Forum.
We had overlooked the forum yesterday, "just" seeing the Arch of Septimius Severus and some of the closer lying ruins, like the temple of Saturn. But today it was all in for us!
The day was hot, sweaty and very sticky, but the sight of all those ruins made the day better! The Arch of Titus was our first stop and that was almost surreal to watch, like everything is here really. The group stopped and started sketching. Having no thought that morning to pack my sketchbook, i went on a little expedition myself. Walking up and down a many number of steppes i found a small, barred off, cave, with stalactites hanging from the sealing. Two sculptures stood on either side of it, almost making it look forgotten. Next i wandered up a new number of many stairs and found myself in a garden on top of everything. It was so peaceful to walk there, taking some photos of a lime tree, or not ready lemons. On my way back, that peace was intreupted by a group of nuns with about 60-70 students cruising by. But i felt finished up there so i walked on.
Standing on a ledge, i was about to take a photo of the view on the "other" side of town, seen from our point of view, when i noticed a familiar group on my display. I quickly vanished from the spot, not wanting them to see me, could have felt a bit awkward. I quickly caught up with them and joined in as we then looked at the house of Augustus, and another roman building.
Next up was more ruins, some lizards, and more warmth. But here we felt pretty content with ourselves and decided to have a closer look at the Arch of Septimius Severus, and then go to lunch.
Lunch, like all the other days, was in the form of a Panini, but oh my, that was a good Panini! Mozzarella, and my new favorite ham, Prosciutto (Parma).
We met at the third Arch of today, the Arch of Constantine! It felt bigger, looked more well preserved, and was my favorite 😊
Here you could see the phenomena of the hagglers. Like Cockroaches scatters when you turn on the light, so does the hagglers, who were just surrounding you, dissaper when a Polizia car approach... some cars has were angry women in high heals to chase them... i would too scatter!
The reason we were outside was too, like the gladiators of old, enter the COLISEUM.
Just like entering the Pantheon, taking the first step into the Coliseum was just breath taking. To be where so many people, so long ago, had enjoyed good company and brutal play, was just too much to handle almost. Much like the stairs there, jeez, i wish they told me to bring my mountaineering gear, cause that was a steep climb! Although, it might have been my badonkadonk weighing me down. But i got some great pictures, which i will not upload here because somehow, my computer dislikes uploading pictures here, so i recommend everyone to look at my facebook photos, here's a link to those who does not have me as a friend on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150305608252691.339107.615042690&type=1

Now time for beeeeed, more museums and chuches tomorrow!
Ciao Suecia con Americanos!

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