Fragola Gelato

On our secondo giorno (second day), my friends from London met us at our hostel and we all walked together to meet Ryan's family at the Arch of Constanstine (you can just see it in the back in the above photo), which is adjacent to the Colosseum and makes an excellent meeting place if you lose your group! Ryan's fam decided to join a guided tour but we opted for the cheaper and more independent "walk on our own" tour which was just as lovely! The only downside was that we lost Ryan's family but fate was with us that day and we saw them a little later as we walked around the Forum.

The Colosseum is absolutely amazing and I have a hard time not including the 800 million pictures Ryan took of it on this post but I will restrain myself! It is amazing to me that they allow so many people to tour it each day and it is still standing. Handy tip: if you go right when it opens, the crowds aren't as crazy and you can enjoy it in relative peace.









It sounds ridiculous but by the end of our trip, the Colosseum had become just another landmark in our neighborhood since we saw it more than a few times each day on our way to other attractions. That doesn't mean it became any less impressive, it just became like an old familiar friend....another reason I loved Rome so much, it felt like home after a few hours...similar to another of my favorite places, Utila.





Directly adjacent to the Colosseum is the Roman Forum or, more simply, the Forum. This used to be the center of Rome and it is where you can imagine yourself walking around, in sandals, as an Ancient Roman...well, that's what I did anyhow. It also is the home of Mussolini's summer home, pictured below.

After the Forum, we were off to the Pantheon which is a temple originally built for all the gods of Ancient Rome but was later converted by the Catholic church and is still used for Mass today. The ceiling is a massive dome with an opening to the sky called an oculus. The only sources of light in the temple are from the entrance and the oculus...they are also the only means of cooling and ventilation. When it rains, there is a drainage system beneath the floor that collects any rainwater that comes in through the oculus. Imagine your church with a giant, gaping hole in the ceiling....it does seem to work very well though and you can't help but marvel at the intelligent design.



That evening, after a day of sightseeing, I got my obligatory gelato for the day (Strawberry (fragola) and hazelnut) and then we had a casual dinner near our hostel before crashing to rest up before our next day at Vatican City!

Random Photos

The oculus

The Forum

 Inside the Colosseum

Old staircase in Colosseum

 The Forum

 Sweet tree in the Forum

Original cobblestone road leading to Rome