Breakfast in our apartment as usual and then downstairs for an espresso from the cafe on the corner.
We then made our way across Roma, through Piazza Navona and then over past the Pantheon finally making our way to the Roman Forum and Coliseum.
We used our tickets from yesterday and were able to get straight in bypassing the lineup for ticket purchase. The Coliseum is a hugely impressive example of what the Roman Empire was capable of building. Many parts are crumbling and in a state of semi ruin, but much of it is still in great shape for building that is almost two thousand years old. The history made within the walls of this building is varied, exciting and at times horrific. The structure itself is impressive and was massively advanced by exploiting all sorts of engineering principles.
I can only imaging what it must have looked like at its peak, all lined with marble and packed with Romans. It would likely have been frightening and wild place.
After a few hours inside we made our way back over to explore more of the amazing Roman Forum. This is a huge area where the Roman Rupublic, later to become the Roman Empire built their city. The buildings are now mostly ruin though there are still some standing, impressively decorated, and many are connected by amazing underground tunnels, some of which are accessible to visitors and many others are still being discovered. I'm not sure they really have an idea of the full extent of what still lays hidden underground.
The history that Roma holds is impressive, staggering and the lineage of where I come from originally. This ancient society shaped much of the life that is currently led in the western world.
After spending most of the rest of the day exploring this vast array of ruins and buildings we made our way back into the back streets of Roma, winding our way through lane after lane, one eye on the lookout for some stone sculptures we thought may be in this area. Not finding what we were looking for we made our way back towards the Pantheon and the restaurants and cafes that are all around that area of Roma. We settled on a restaurant, sat inside and ordered some food and drinks.
