It was a long few days getting here but I am absolutely thrilled to be in Rome! It is a great place to start out.
Chad and I had planned to see quite a bit today, but we saw even more and covered a lot of ground. The owner of the hostel gave us a map and circled the places to see and marked the best routes to each place for us. We started out following it but mostly we just walked until we found something worth stopping to explore or just take photos of... there was something on pretty much every street.
The most significant use of our time today was given to a tour of the Coliseum, Palatine hill and the Roman forum.
First was the Coliseum. We got to go underneath where the gladiators would have entered, we stood on the stage, climbed the steps, looked at the arena from the Emporers seat, saw an ancient toilet and a great many other things. Our guide was great at painting a picture of what it would have really looked like in its day. Not much at all like we see it now. It would have been covered by a canopy and therefore shaded, 2/3 of the outer walls are missing in one area, and the floors and seats were made of or covered in beautiful marble. Inside the stone walls are iron rods to keep the structure standing during earthquakes, there are 80 entrace gates, tickets to see events were made of clay and free, shows had "commercials".. These are just a few things we learned from him.
Next was Palatine hill and the forum. These areas leave a lot to the imagination because most of the buildings haven't stood the test of time like the coliseum. Several pictures later, some more info and it was time to go because the site was closing for the day.
It was a very pleasant tour and made even better by a good guide and a small group. And by small I mean beside me, Chad and the guide, it was a brother and sister and a 'guide in training'. If you ever get to Rome I highly recommend taking a tour of these places. It is well worth it.
Next was the pantheon. Huge. And awesome! The first dome ceiling, huge columns, beautiful sculptures, paintings and marble. The dome has a hole in the centre and therefore the floor is concave with a drain at the bottom for when it rains. Something I would love to see.
Pizza dinner was next.
More walking and the Trevi fountain after. Of course that means more pictures and obviously tossing a coin. We didn't stay very long because it is quite a busy area.
Moving along we got to the Spanish steps. Different than I expected but still good. At the top there was a giant Christmas tree! Pictures, pictures, pictures.
More walking to another area to see another fountain but it was covered and being restored so we decided it was time to head back to the hostel.
All-in-all an amazing first day in Rome!
See you for more tomorrow!
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