Today we saw lots of
famous landmarks; but my favourites were the Colosseum and the Trevi
Fountain. We started the day early and caught the train to the
Colosseum stop. Coming out of the subway was so surreal – we walked
out and the Colosseum was just right there across the street in all
of its grandeur and glory. The queues were extreme though, so we
decided to go to the Palatine first. It was still busy, but not too
crowded because it was so spread out. There was lots to see, and many
photo opportunities to be had!
From there we walked
through to the Roman Forum which was much busier, but there wasn't as
much to see there. We sat and had lunch in the shade next to the
Temple of Venus and Roma with amazing views of the Colosseum. It took
several attempts to get out (due to poor signage and one o the exits
being closed), but once we did we walked towards the Il Vittoriano,
which has a huge glass elevator (think Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory!). After ascending what felt like hundreds of steps we
finally got to the base of the elevator. As we went up the views were
great, but out on the roof – we could see everything! We took lots
of photos, and saw lots of landmarks including the Colosseum, The
Vatican and St Peters Basilica. When we were back at ground level we
found a shop to buy some well deserved gelato; Nocciole (Hazelnut) is
definitely one of my favourites!
By this time it was
about 3pm, so we walked back to the Colosseum where the queues were
much more maneagable (although the queue to buy tickets was still
quite long); luckily we had purchased tickets online, so we went
through quickly and then got audio guides which were quite good. I
found the history really interesting, and could have stood and stared
at the ruins for hours. Joan and I both agreed that we would have
loved to see a reenactment of the fights that happened thousands of
years ago. We headed back to the train station, and got off at the
Barberini stop (near the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps).
By the time we reached
the Trevi Fountian it was about quarter to 6, and whilst it was busy,
we were still able to take lots of photos, and even got a couple
right infront of it! We both threw coins in and made our wishes, and
then headed towards the Spanish Steps.
The Spanish Steps were
crowded and whilst they were good as a photo opportunity (with a nice
background); as an iconic landmark, I didn't find them too
impressive. After dinner at an entirely unimpressive restaurant (the
fine print on the menu said that the pasta was frozen and not
fresh!), we headed back to CVR. I still can't believe we saw so many
famous, and amazing things all in one day!
