Rome - The Colesseum, Roman Forum, and Palantine Hill

We started early to get to The Colosseum early before the crowds hit. The sun was up and the weather was really warm, all before 9am. We thought that this would deter the crowds as well. We were excited getting of the bus and walking past the Imperial Forum towards the huge ruin. Unfortunately for us everyone else had the same idea about getting there early, and the place was already buzzing with tourist by the time we got there - but fortunately no gypsies. Mick was relieved that no one was going to throw a baby at him! Luckily we had bought a Roma Pass the previous day, which meant we could jump the queue, avoid the touts, and get straight into the Colosseum.

The Colosseum is a huge structure, maybe not by modern standards, but it imposes itself on the landscape - and walking out into the arena was awesome. While there were a lot of tourist inside in wasn't as busy as the outside had lead us to believe so we easily snapped away and walked around the lower level before moving up to the second level for a better view. By the time we left the place was beginning to fill up, and people we vying not only for the best photo spots, but also for any small spot of shade.

We left the Colosseum, and headed to the Roman Forum which is just next door. After a bit of confusion about the entry we again skipped the line and made our way in - thanks Roma Pass! We passed the aqueducts that brought water into ancient Rome and then onto the forum, which for the ancient Romans was a place where commerce, religion and politics all mixed with the offices of the Senate, open market and various temples all clustered around the Via Sacra. We made our way from the Arch of Titus to the Temples of Venus and Roma, and then past the home of the Vestal Virgins all the way along to the Temple of Saturn. At this point we had to turn back and re trace our steps to get to the entrance to the Palantine Hill, which contained the palaces and homes of the ruling Emperors and their families. 

By now it was almost noon and the day was really beginning to heat up. We zipped around the ruins of the ancient lodgings and entered the Palantine Museum, a blessedly air conditioned relief from the beating sun.Here we saw many disfigured statues, disfigured in that their arms and heads and feet had fallen off due to old age. While looking around the small collection Damian chastised a fellow tourist for taking a photo with a flash on, there were signs on the entrance that clearly forbade flash photography (Damians inner hall monitor couldn't help himself). Given the look on The tourist's face she was either frightened or didn't understand a word he said, but she got the gist of it.

We had a lazy afternoon followed by drinks at wine bar around the corner from our apartment. All walls of the bar were covered with wine, which gave the place a great ambiance. Mick was concerned over the longevity of the wines as all the wines had cork tops (Italians haven't embraced the screw top) and were standing up (not laid down). We then went for dinner at a trattoria (another name for a restaurant). Damian eyed the greet and white gingham tablecloths suspiciously as we entered, but the food was really good, and the place was packed with a mix of locals and tourists alike. We had a quiet night in so that we wouldn't be too tired for clothes shopping the next day!