The theme of the day was ANCIENT ROME.
We started a little slowly because we were still recovering, but arrived at the Coliseum around 10:00 a.m. We were again approached by the English Spoken Here tour, but this was not as legit we were to find out later. We paid them 9€ + 11 for our ticket to theColiseumm, and the tour was very good, but they didn't give us the tickets, so we left and when we later wanted to go back in, or wanted to go to the Forum we had to buy another ticket, when in reality the ticket we bought in the morning was good for returning anytime that day. Oh well, that was a minimal issue. But a word to the wise - get the ticket, you paid for them.
So anyway, the line moved quickly through the metal detectors, and once we were in the tour, very quickly because there was a special line for tours. TheColiseumm is enormous. And obviously one of the most famous icons in the whole world. The area around it is pretty well preserved as well, and you get the sense you are in a pretty historical place, as well as one that is well marketed! Inside theColiseumm you can walk around on two levels, and you can see virtually all of it. A sort of museum has been set up on the upper floor with amazing statutes that date back to 400 AD. The view of the Forum and the Palatine from the upper deck (but not the upper most deck, which no longer really exists) was really awe inspiring. You could get the sense that this was really an enormous complex ~2000 years ago.
We met Dave, Nancy, Mille & Sarah around 2 and headed back up to the Forum and the Palantine. What a great time we had. We mixed discussion about being 14 with being a woman in ancient Rome. We watched the wild cats in the park, and marveled at the rose gardens. We climbed on the statutes and took pictures ofeach otherr.
We wandered around there for a couple of hours and had a great time.While walking near the Victor Emmanuel, and the tomb of the unknown Italian soldier, we ran into another Cincy family, Norm, Ann, Jim and Jeff and the party really started! As Nancy said, we couldn't have planned this any better. All three families together for three days. It was great. We then hiked to the Trevi Fountain and up the Spanish Steps and then just before dark - the Pantheon. We had dinner in the Pantheon Plaza, but not at the McDonald's. There were now 10 of us, and we tried some great pasta, pizza and amazing gelato and desserts. Then, around midnight headed back to our respective hotels to meet up again in the morning. A total of 8 miles walked according to my pedometer - and how many centuries had we passed through?
