Rome Day 2

This is sightseeing at its best. I again will mention my disclaimer that none of these pictures do any of these sights any justice. It is impossible to capture the enormity of these places.

We started the morning with what will probably be my most favorite run of my entire life. We got up early before any of the tourists were out and did a 2 mile run to the Colosseum and back. We literally ran down the streets through all the ancient ruins and ran up and touched the Colosseum and then headed back. We had the roads to ourselves and it was awesome!

Here we are at the grand Colosseum. We did some research on how to skip lines and also downloaded free audio guides that were awesome and helped you really learn about what you were seeing and took you back in time.

The Colosseum was massive. It was built in A.D. 80 and could hold as many as 50,000 roaring fans. At the far end of the picture above you can see where they have rebuilt a portion of the floor that would have originally been there. The whole bottom section was where there were rooms and halls where the gladiators roamed and where they held the animals about to face battle.

In it's glory days there was a 100 foot tall bronze statue of Nero in the front. I would have loved to have seen that! It took 200 ox-drawn wagons going back and forth every day for 4 years just to get all the stone here to build this massive structure.

The games went on here for nearly 500 years until they were finally banned at which time the Colosseum was left to be used for various purposes for over 1,000 years and was slowly dismantled by Romans themselves taking the stone to build other churches or temples. What remains is a sight to be seen and one I will not soon forget.

The other area around the Colosseum is known as The Roman Forum. The forum was where the most important temples and halls of justice were built. This was where all the political speeches took place and elections and parades were held.

It is breath taking now to see. I can only imagine how it must have looked in it's day with sparkling white massive temples and lush green garden and pools all around.

Above is Charlie standing by one side of the Basilica of Constantine. These arches are about 100 feet tall and there used to be a marble statue of the Emperor Constantine at the end of a great hall. Pieces of this actual statue are seen in the photos below.

The following pictures are just different views of all of the temples and basilicas and the main square.

This was my favorite day of sightseeing. I am amazed at the genius minds it must have taken to build such beautiful and massive buildings. It was exciting to think that the very stones I was walking on, Cesar Augustus himself walked on 2,000 years ago!

That night we came back to the hotel for a little rest and then got fancied up for a dinner at a posh Roman restaurant called Il Pagliaccio. I am not what you would call an adventurous eater so this night certainly put me to the test.

We ate lots of plates of food like this. We did the 8 course tasting menu where you have NO control over what the chef is going to prepare. I was brave and at least tried everything that was put in front of me. We ate lots of foam of something or other, and I ate rabbit, and veal, and liver of something....lots of interesting things. I either loved it or pretty much had to force it down but it was definitely an experience.

This was one of our most favorite Rome days although I would have been just as happy with some burger and fries at the end of the night instead of the fancy pants dinner. I guess Charlie should be happy I don't have a "refined" palate.

Next up Rome, day 3 & 4 and then we are off to Paris!