We set off for the Forum Romanum, Palatine Hill and Colosseum with no breakfast and we didn’t eat until 2pm, so I think we lasted pretty well.
Cheeky tip- If you want to get the day pass for these three places, get your ticket from the Palatine Hill ticket booth- minimal queues! yay.
So, unknowingly, we started the day at the Forum Romanum- I have no idea how they managed to fit in so many temples and Domus’s and still have room for grassy areas. Despite all of the crowds it was easy to imagine walking around the Forum thousands of years ago weaving in and out of temples and relaxing in the sun. What really stood out for me was the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, placed near the centre of the Forum. This was where the Hearth of Rome was to be kept burning as long as the cult lived- a strong sign of commitment and faith.
As we move around, poor Dani kept getting new blisters on her feet because we walked A LOT and she wore the worst shoes: gold cross-strapped sandals from Primarni. We moved upwards to the Palatine Hill- no queues as the Forum is connected :D. We tried to grab some oranges from the trees in the gardens but all the good low-hanging ones were taken and our human ladder was a failure- note to self get there in early orange season. While trying to get a good pano of the Forum a seagull attacked me out of nowhere and apparently this was hilarious to hundreds of onlookers; red faced we moved on.
We left for lunch and let me tell you it is VERY expensive near the Colosseum, we did not stop walking up the main restaurant street till we reached an Italian Frankie and Bennies which had bruschetta which was bella. The rain hit us hard when we had finished, so seeing a new queue form near the Colosseum, we ran to it. Turns out it wasn’t a proper queue, whoops, but we got into the epic amphitheatre in just under 15 minutes! (We’ll just forget about the other angry tourists in the hour long queue). Walking around the Colosseum was an epic experience, I know that I visited it when I was 12, but I never really appreciated it- now I did. The marble steps for the Senate and the open roof made the place look surreal and touring the inside makes you realise the sheer amount of bodies would have filled up the basic stone steps. It was funny to think that a building so majestic was filled with thousands of tourists with modern selfie sticks- I was surprised that I didn’t see any fall into the ‘dressing rooms’ of the gladiators beneath.
Going home, we stopped off at the supermarket so I could buy some and have a decent cuppa after a long day of being in awe.
perringrination 