We ended up hiring an English tour guide to take us through the colosseum, the Palatine and the Roman Forum. This way we could skip the huge lines to get inside AND know what we were actually seeing. The inside was really cool. He explained to us that the four levels were divided by class and that there were actually specific arches for people of each class to enter through. The arches are marked by Roman Numerals so that they knew which one was theirs. The women had to sit on the very top level! What chivalry! The stadium could fit about 55,000 people. The games were free to watch and even included free bread and sometimes wine. They were an all day event. Part of it collapsed from an earthquake and has had some repair on it, but it has been there since 70 a.d. They had chambers under the stage where they could keep the animals for the shows. They would keep the lions in complete darkness for up to 72 hours beforehand so that when they were released, it would be blinded by the sun and the gladiators would have the advantage.
After we explored the colosseum, our tour group went next to the Palatine Hill which is the ruins of the old palace and also the place where it is said that Romulus killed his twin brother Remus and took the throne for himself. We saw the remains of a chariot racing track- which was located INSIDE the palace. The palace walls used to be completely covered in marble and the chambers were huge. We went inside what used to be the largest room, the tallest room and the throne room. Also there is one newer building on Palatine Hill, the old house of Mussolini.
The "indoor" chariot track
We concluded the tour by going to Roman Forum which used to be the center of Rome. It has many ruins of Pagan temples, including the temple of the Vestal Virgins and the tomb of Julius Cesaer. One of the temples still has it's original bronze doors. The tomb of Julius Cesaer is now in ruins and is basically just a pile of dirt, but still it is there. There are just tons of pillars standing on there own, hinting at what used to be. When Christianity spread across Rome, the church took many materials from the pagan temples to build their own churches leaving much of it ruin. It is a very awesome place to visit. Here is the view from above of the Forum.
During the tour, our guide told us about a city it Italy that has a wine harvest celebration each year where they give out free wine to the people. They actually hook it up to the city lines so that wine comes out of the fountains! Apparently one year, they accidentally hooked it up to the wrong line and people had wine coming out of their showers! Also, in general Rome has a very clean water system with lots of public fountains where we could just stick our heads under for a drink or to fill up a water bottle.
While walking we passed many times a monument nick-named the wedding cake. It's real name is Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II and is built into Capitoline Hill to honor the first King of Italy. It is made out of pure white marble and holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame.
Next we had to visit the most famous fountain in Rome (which is saying a lot because there are A LOT of fountains in Rome!) the Trevi fountain. The tradition attached to this rather large fountain, is that one turns their back to the fountain and tosses in a coin while making a wish. It really is very large, very beautiful and very crowded, but Courtney and I made our wishes none-the-less!
Next we went to see the Spanish Steps. There are 138 steps which connect the Spanish Embassy with the Holy See. It was pretty at twilight, but we missed the summer season where there are flower markets all around. At the top there is a church, but there was a mass going on, so we couldn't look around.
We concluded our day with a nice sit down dinner at an Italian restaurant. We had real Italian pasta of course! Our waiter was an old Italian man who didn't speak much English. I think there was a lot of pretending to understand on both ends. haha Despite this he was truly friendly and I could tell that he just wanted us to have a great experience of Italian cuisine. It was very delicious. It was pasta with bacon in it! I couldn't finish it, but he didn't give me too hard of a time for it! He was very touchy in that he would pat our cheeks or grab our shoulders like a grandparent to their grandchild, but it was all well intentioned. At the end, Courtney and I received our first Italian Bizou which left our cheeks a little wet, but oh well :) He also gave us a discount which was rather nice.
We walked back to our hostel which gave us a good chance to view the monuments all lit up at night. There are so many beautiful squares and fountains and little shops and ruins that there is constantly something to look at! I loved it!
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