Our last day in Rome was spent touring the Colosseum and the Roman Forum – the surprisingly large area of ruins surrounding it.
We had breakfast in our hotel room, then walked 10 minutes to the Colosseum. The proximity to the Colosseum was one of the main reasons I selected this hotel.
We arrived just before our scheduled 9am ticket time and were let in. But, to our surprise, we were asked to show our ID (later, when I read the fine print on the ticket, I saw that ID was required). We would have been screwed except that as part of our contactless check-in we had to send photos of our passports to the hotel manager. The Colosseum staff accepted those photos.
It would have been a shame to have missed the experience, but we were a bit underwhelmed overall. Yes, the Colosseum is VERY old and it is kind of amazing to walk the same steps that Roman citizens walked 2,000 years ago. But after all the incredible churches we have seen in Europe the Colosseum seemed… bland.
The highlight of our hour there were the two seagulls who were begging for food. I think they didn’t bare at all that the building has stood for several millennia… they just wanted bread.
After we left the Colosseum we walked to the ruins of the Roman Forum, the seat of the Roman government for over 1,000 years. Not much left now except some columns. But the site has been rebuilt and repurposed about 10 times and the fragments that remain are interesting. We spent more time wandering this area than we spent in the Colosseum because the space is HUGE. I don’t know how many acres but it must be well over 100.
And there is a museum with some interesting short videos of the history and artifacts from the archeological digs in the area – mostly around 1900. Extensive gardens, too.
After over 4 hours in the Colosseum and Forum we headed back to the hotel, getting some gelato with the last of our euros (except the 80 reserved for our trip to the ship tomorrow). We took a nap and then I blogged. Then we played cards and, miracle of miracles, I won all 3 games.
Our home for these 3 nights in Rome was the Tullia & Prisca Relais which I expected to be a hotel but is actually a private home with about 10 rooms that are rented out. The rooms are large, comfortable and modern. It was just… odd. I think the place was well suited to our needs, but I should have read the note that was sent to me before our arrival. The nightmare of checking in could have been averted.
No microwave, but a good minifridge and a teapot that heated water in a flash.
8 out of 10.
This ends the ATW-2. Tomorrow we board the Carnival Miracle for the trip home – the start of ATW-3.
I wiil post an ATW-2 wrapup when I next get internet. Probably in our first port.