Day 2 (A Walk Through Ceasar's Rome)
"This morning we'll focus on the heart and soul of ancient Rome: the Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon. After this busy morning, your guide will orient you to lunch options and afternoon activities before setting you free, so you can wander through the nearby Palatine ruins, St. Peter-in-Chains church, Mamertine Prison — or simply relax at a sidewalk café with a foamy cappuccino. The evening and dinner are on your own."
Colosseum (Notice a trend here?)
The Forum
The Pantheon
We started out by taking the Metro to the Colosseum. The trains on the B line of the Metro were extremely packed. We had to wait for 3 trains to come through the station before we were able to get on a train. Once we got on a train there was no need to hold on to the handrail!
When we got to the Colosseum it was awe inspiring! Here we met our local guide for the day, Francesca. She was absolutely wonderful! She could really make the sites come alive. She took us on a nice paced walk through the Colosseum. We had a nice system called a "Whisper System" that was really nice. We all had a little ear piece and Francesca had a mic that allowed us to hear easily all that she said without having to be right next to her or her having to speak really loudly.
Francesca then took us to the Forum. This is where her skill really shined. There is not much left there but her descriptions really transformed it from a pile of ruins to an active civic center of ancient roman life.
Next was a walk to the Pantheon. The walk was really great. Nice little streets. I was towards the front of the group with Francesca and got to hear her talk about the challenges of modern life in Rome. Very interesting. The Pantheon was an absolutely amazing space!
That was the end of the group portion of the days touring. It was lunch time so Cammie and I ate at a little place near the Pantheon. We both had some salad and pasta.
After lunch we decided to walk back to the hotel. On the way we were going to check out some of the fountains. When we got to the Trevi fountain it started pouring down rain so we jumped in a taxi to head back to the hotel and check on our luggage! No luggage yet so we took a short nap before meeting the group for an evening meal.
Was really pouring rain when we got to the Trevi Fountain
We had supper at the White Restaurant. Very nice place. Our lead guide Cecilia, whose family owns an estate that produces wine and olive oil, had a treat for us. She brought along some freshly pressed olive oil for us to try. Absolutely wonderful!! Our meal consisted of pasta with zucchini, chicken in a wine sauce with spinach, and dessert was creme brule', and birthday cake. It was Ann's birthday. After eating the Manager took us down to the basement where they have a small disco. Well when they were building this space they found that a part of the ancient roman wall was there. Kind of neat to see a modern discotheque incorporating an ancient wall into it's design.
Walked back to the hotel and Cammie and I both just crashed in our bed!