My group was responsible for the Colosseum and so we had to lead the way there. Fortunately, it was only one stop before the Circus Maximus and so we took the same route as the day before, but got off at the station named "Colosseo".
As soon as we got out, just like before, we were right in front of the Colosseum and it nearly hit us in the face. There was actually some sort of Santa Race going on in the street right in front of us. We weren't sure what that was all about, but a bunch of people dressed up in Santa costumes we congregating around a starting line. We weren't able to watch the race however, because we had a tour scheduled and we were almost late already.
We got in line to get into the Colosseum and we were able to use our archeaology cards, except a few people forgot theirs so we had a little trouble getting them through, but eventually everyone got in. Due to some kind of mix-up, we didn't actually have the tour guide that was scheduled on our itinerary and so my group was responsible for giving the tour. This didn't turn out so good since we had made our presentation over 2 months ago and we couldn't quite remember all of the facts as clearly as we had. Although I had brought all of my research with me, I didn't bring it on the trip to the Colosseum because I thought we were going to have the guide. But in any case, we walked through the Colosseum and took all of our pictures. I don't think it was that big of a deal that we weren't able to convey that much information because we only knew as much as we could read and it's not the same as having been to the Colosseum and learning about it while looking at it. And also, the Colosseum is such a famous structure that just about everybody knows at least something about it.
But after the Colosseum we were given a little time to ourselves for lunch and we were going to meet outside the Arch of Constantine and head over to the Forum and Palatino. I can't remember who I was with that afternoon, but we found a small Gelateria and had some ice cream and that was pretty much my lunch for the day. I always made sure to eat a large breakfast.
So we all met up around 2 and headed over to the Palatino. This is the place where the mythical Romulus is said to have founded Rome. The palace is located here and it's right next to the Forum. The Forum truthfully consists of a bunch of old marble ruins laying all over the place with a few columns still standing here and there. There really aren't too many whole structures left. And I really am not sure how they can figure out what pile of ruins is a basilica and what ruble is a temple. I think most of it is guesswork, but in any case, you're still looking at 2,000 year old ruins and it's still fairly impressive.
We spent a while in the forum and in the palace and our tour guides were very informative. There were a ton of buildings left and it was amazing that they remembered and were even able to identify as many as they could. But eventually, we were done for the day and we were given the evening to do whatever we wanted.
I can't quite remember what I did that night, but I'm pretty sure me and some other people wandered around for a bit. I think I want to the Trevi Fountain, which was very impressive, especially at night. But finally, I headed back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Pictures:
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| From Rome '08 |
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