Rome Part 3 - The Forum

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum (ha!), we had a really bad breakfast/lunch. There are a bunch of cafes right along the road facing the Colosseum and we thought it would be cool to sit and stare at it while we ate. Which it was. However, the food was not good. My recommendation? Stay off the beaten path if you want delicious food. This should be a given but we wanted the view so we paid the price.

Did you know that when you pay to get into the Colosseum that you also get entrance to the Forum? And your tickets are good for 2 days? No? Neither did I! It was awesome to get more for our money and the Forum was awesome. You could wander in there for hours. We hadn't really planned on going there so we only stayed for an hour or two. I did manage to take a TON of photos though so be prepared. I really loved this place so it was hard for me to narrow down which photos to show you. PS, I love the juxtaposition of old and new/ hard and soft so there are lots of photos with flowers and ruins... 

  

  

  

After the Forum, we went to the Mouth of Truth which I learned about from Roman Holiday. They only allow one picture per person now which wasn't the case 10 years ago when I was there. Oh well, it was still really fun! Plus, the chapel it's in front of contains St. Valentine's bones apparently. I even bought a little Mouth of Truth brooch. Which reminds me, I need

Rome Part Two - The Colosseum

On our walk over to the Colosseum, we found this area of ruins just hanging out. That's what I love about Rome, history everywhere!

 

The second half of the day in Rome was spent at the Colosseum. The previous time I came to Rome, we did not go inside because as you can see from the photos below, there is plenty to see right around the site! You have the Arch of Constantine, the old Roman road and lots of photo ops with the Colosseum itself :)

I was surprised that the lines weren't longer to get tickets but maybe because we were there late in the afternoon, there weren't as many people. Since I had never been inside, I decided to pay for the audio tour and I'm glad that I did. It was really interesting to learn about the history of certain areas, actually know what certain things are and hear about the hierarchy that existed when the Colosseum was in use. Fascinating!

  

Before we went to dinner, we headed to Villa Borghese Park which overlooks Rome. My friend wanted to see it at sunset which was really beautiful. It looked like a really nice park so if I'm ever back in Rome, I will definitely take more time to wander around instead of just going for photos.

More of Rome coming soon! The second day in Rome, we went to the Forum and the Mouth of Truth!

Rome Part One

There is so much to see in Rome that it can really get overwhelming. I have been to Rome once before so there were some things I was really excited to see again and some I thought we could pass on. We squeezed so much into the couple of days that we were there, I decided to break Rome up into a couple of posts. There are still a bunch of pictures though so be prepared :)

Our first stop when we arrived in Rome was the Vatican. Since I had been inside the Vatican Museum the last time I was there and my friend had no real desire to wait in line to see it, we just walked over and gaped at it from the outside. Apparently Roman people do not wear sleeveless things even though it was over 80 degrees that day. On our walk from the train to the Vatican, everyone was talking to us in English. Walking American billboards apparently. We did bring cardigans to wear inside of Vatican City though. You definitely don't want bare shoulders there!

Many of the main "sights to see" are in small area so these are pretty easy to cover in a short amount of time. I thought the Spanish Steps looked even prettier than the last time I was here. Probably because we were there much later in the spring than before so there were a lot more flowers everywhere!

One of my favorite places in Rome has to be the Trevi Fountain. It is beautiful during the day as well as at night. I could sit there all day if all the throngs of tourists would allow it. I had to throw my coin in to ensure my return to Rome because it worked the last time :) PS, if you want to see a cute movie about Rome that isn't Roman Holiday (which is amazing) then check out Three Coins in the Fountain.

Then, we headed over to the Pantheon. Just the sheer age of this building blows my mind. It was a pretty quick stop but one that we had to make.

Piazza Navona is probably my favorite piazza in Rome. There are artists set up everywhere with a real variety of art. Plus, a lot of them are painting while they are sitting there so you know it is their work. No prints or imposters here which is really refreshing when you've walked through lots of tourist shops. I didn't pick up any art this time around since I was traveling with a backpack but I hope to go back someday and get some art! We also had to get gelato which was really delicious!

We walked by Altare della Patria which holds the tomb of the unknown soldier and the eternal flame. Apparently, Romans don't really care for this building but I think it's great!

We did even more on the first day we were there but I'll save that for another day. We headed to the Colosseum and walked around the interior which was really amazing! Stay tuned for that soon.