Italy, September 2018 (Part 2 - The Colosseum & Roman Ruins)

Our first full day in Rome began well before sunrise. We woke up at 5 AM local time in Rome and began planning out our day. The Colosseum was at the top of the list. With a little research we found that buying a “Skip the line” ticket online would cost 18€ each but only costs 12€ if you buy the ticket at the Colosseum itself. Since we were up so early, we decided to save the money and just go get the tickets there. Tickets to the Colosseum also grant you access to the Roman Forum located a few minutes walking distance from the amphitheater.

We left our hotel around 7:45. It was a cool morning with a slight overcast and a light breeze which made the short walk to the Colosseum very enjoyable. We arrived 30 minutes before the Colosseum opened and much to our surprise we were one of the first 20 people in line.

Now, I cannot personally guarantee that you will have the same results that we did, but if you consider factors such as what day of the week it is and the time of the year, you can make a good estimate as to how many other tourists you’ll have to deal with.

As with most big tourist spots in Rome, you have to pass through a security checkpoint to get into the main part of the Colosseum. This checkpoint isn’t super invasive like one at an airport but you do still have to put your bag through an X-Ray and have to walk through a metal detector before you even get to the ticket booth. Once inside, the Colosseum is truly something remarkable to witness.

The morning progressed and the morning cloud cover began to clear up. It was at this point that something truly magical happened. The sun shone down on the ancient amphitheater and the grey and white structure began to turn into a beautiful burnt orange and gold.

When it was completed around the year 80 AD, the Colosseum could hold an estimated 50,000 - 80,000 Roman spectators, making it the largest amphitheater ever built and even rivals modern sports stadiums in capacity.

As a history major, I must admit that I was filled with awe being inside such a historic landmark. The Colosseum is an architectural achievement that was centuries ahead of its time. Most impressive is the fact that the majority of the structure is still standing after close to 2000 years.

Once we were finished exploring the Colosseum thoroughly, we left around 11 and had an early lunch since we skipped breakfast.

It is rather difficult to find restaurants open that early in Rome. We eventually found Gran Caffè Cavour at the intersection of Via del Cardello and Via Cavour. Sitting down was definitely welcome after climbing up and down the Colosseum and our English breakfast helped satisfy our hunger.

We finished our lunch and started heading towards the Roman Forum. The forum itself is fenced off and there is a narrow choke point to get in. Once again, you have to go through a security checkpoint before being able to enter the forum. The line looked really long but we were able to get through security in about 30 minutes.

In it's heyday, the forum was Rome’s downtown district, an economic, political, and cultural center for the empire. We passed the Arch of Titus and took the path leading up Palatine Hill.

During the time of the Roman Empire, Palatine Hill was prime real estate as it overlooked the forum. I am mesmerized, not just by the beauty of this architecture, but by its ability to withstand the test of time.

On the hill, we stumbled upon a drinking fountain known as a “fontanelle,” which to this day still lets out a steady constant stream of cold, delicious drinking water fed from the aqueducts built nearly two millennia ago.

These fontanelles are found throughout the city of Rome providing clean, potable drinking water to everyone, just as they did during the height of the Roman Empire.

The difference in time zone began to hit us so we headed back to the hotel to take a nap before meeting with Audrey’s sister, Emily.

A brief nap left us refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the day. We walked about 25 minutes to the Piazza Trilussa where we met with Emily. We sat down at Pimm’s Good where we enjoyed prosciutto, mozzarella, and a Caprese salad as a mid day snack.

We finished our afternoon snack and journeyed towards the Pantheon, a temple to the Roman gods and arguably the most impressive structure built by the Romans.

At its heart lies the rotunda, a large open space capped by a domed ceiling measuring nearly 150 feet high and 150 feet across, without any support from columns or buttresses. This is a feat so remarkable that it remained the largest unsupported dome structure for over 1800 years.

We kept moving to take advantage of the daylight and we headed off to see Trajan’s column. Along the way we walked past the Altare della Patria at the heart of the Piazza Venezia.

We made a brief stop by Trajan’s column before heading towards the Trevi Fountain. Much to our dismay, on this day the fountain was completely empty of any water as it underwent some sort of maintenance.

Slightly disappointed, we went back to the area around the Pantheon to eat at one of the restaurants overlooking the temple. We stopped to eat at a place called Napoletano’s, a restaurant directly overlooking the front of the ancient structure.

For some reason, we keep falling for this trap of going to restaurants near tourist locations and then being disappointed when the food turns out to be terrible. We stayed at the restaurant for a while talking with Emily about how she’s enjoying her new school before we walked her to her dorm building near the Piazza Trilussa.

After seeing Emily’s dorm and meeting her roommates, Audrey and I took a taxi back to our hotel. Before going to sleep we booked our tickets for our tour of the Vatican the next day and booked our train tickets to Venice for Thursday with this awesome website called Loco2.