Colosseum and the Pantheon
Bright and Early
We finally made it to the Colosseum. 8:45AM and no lines. It was early enough in the day that there were maybe 30 people total inside. It was nice to not have to fight a crowd.
Gladiators
The Rick Steves book warned us about the Gladiators. I was able to experience it first hand. From a distance, I saw an Asian tourist take a picture with one of the Gladiators. Afterwards, the Gladiator asked him for money for the picture. When the tourist said no, the Gladiator followed him. After several minutes the poor tourist ended up running away, with the Gladiator in tow for a few more yards. We were able to get our picture with no hassle. It was the guy in the tan cape.
Palantine Hill
We decided to walk up to Palantine Hill as the ticket to the Colosseum covered both exhibits. Here is a picture looking back at the Colosseum from Palantine Hill.
Not knowing what to expect, we were very impressed with the ruins in Palentine hill. This was one of those experiences where we wished we had a tour guide. My particular favorite was Circus Maximus.
We were really impressed by Palantine Hill as we had no idea what to expect and it really wasn't on our itinerary.
We took so many wonderful pictures. This one was on a bluff overlooking Capitol Hill and some of the temples. We walked through all of this up to the white building in the upper left hand corner.
We walked through the "Forum walk" up to Capitol Hill just on the other side of the ruins.
Lost again but saved by the bus
Then we decided to get lunch over by the Pantheon since we wanted to see it during the day. Another Rick Steves recommended place which was fantastic. We got lost getting there, but ended up hopping on a bus for a few blocks. By this time we were getting tired. This was our walk through some of the back streets to get to our lunch spot.
Pantheon
We had lunch and then walked over to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was like a mini St. Peter's Basilica. A huge dome covering some beautiful monuments.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow we leave for Florence. We'll probably take the bus over to the Termini and then wait for a train to Florence. There are 12 a day so I don't think we'll wait that long. I had to say that I really enjoyed our stay at the Aberdeen. It was so easy to get to everything. And easy to get back when you don't feel like walking.
Crisis of the day
Left my credit card at il Gabriello's last night. Didn't find out about it until this AM. I had to wait until 7PM before I could call them to see if we had left it there. We weren't sure what we were going to do if we had to cancel the cards. We only brought one set. Next time we'll bring two sets of credit cards and leave one hidden in the luggage.
We finally made it to the Colosseum. 8:45AM and no lines. It was early enough in the day that there were maybe 30 people total inside. It was nice to not have to fight a crowd.
Gladiators
The Rick Steves book warned us about the Gladiators. I was able to experience it first hand. From a distance, I saw an Asian tourist take a picture with one of the Gladiators. Afterwards, the Gladiator asked him for money for the picture. When the tourist said no, the Gladiator followed him. After several minutes the poor tourist ended up running away, with the Gladiator in tow for a few more yards. We were able to get our picture with no hassle. It was the guy in the tan cape.
Palantine Hill
We decided to walk up to Palantine Hill as the ticket to the Colosseum covered both exhibits. Here is a picture looking back at the Colosseum from Palantine Hill.
Not knowing what to expect, we were very impressed with the ruins in Palentine hill. This was one of those experiences where we wished we had a tour guide. My particular favorite was Circus Maximus.
We were really impressed by Palantine Hill as we had no idea what to expect and it really wasn't on our itinerary.
We took so many wonderful pictures. This one was on a bluff overlooking Capitol Hill and some of the temples. We walked through all of this up to the white building in the upper left hand corner.
We walked through the "Forum walk" up to Capitol Hill just on the other side of the ruins.
Lost again but saved by the bus
Then we decided to get lunch over by the Pantheon since we wanted to see it during the day. Another Rick Steves recommended place which was fantastic. We got lost getting there, but ended up hopping on a bus for a few blocks. By this time we were getting tired. This was our walk through some of the back streets to get to our lunch spot.
Pantheon
We had lunch and then walked over to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was like a mini St. Peter's Basilica. A huge dome covering some beautiful monuments.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow we leave for Florence. We'll probably take the bus over to the Termini and then wait for a train to Florence. There are 12 a day so I don't think we'll wait that long. I had to say that I really enjoyed our stay at the Aberdeen. It was so easy to get to everything. And easy to get back when you don't feel like walking.
Crisis of the day
Left my credit card at il Gabriello's last night. Didn't find out about it until this AM. I had to wait until 7PM before I could call them to see if we had left it there. We weren't sure what we were going to do if we had to cancel the cards. We only brought one set. Next time we'll bring two sets of credit cards and leave one hidden in the luggage.
posted by Alex at 9:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home