Its hard to believe its here... a day we planned over a year for! And yet, as we file off of the plane after giving what felt like a year of my life to it.... we step onto Italian soil and the adventure begins.
Sleepy but excited we head to our hotel to check in but it is too early, so we leave our bags and walk to a place for lunch.
After we eat at this cute place, we walk to a Tabacchi shop and buy a metro pass. This is the first place we have encountered no English, but we only have to say "metro pass" and she is able to show us with hand gestures our choice of a 3 day, 5 day or 7 day.
Now armed with our metro passes, we head to use the metro for the first time. This was an intimidating thought for me but it is actually quite simple. There are 2 lines that run through Rome. Line A (red) and Line B (blue). Line A goes to Vatican, and Testaccio Market and more. (there are maps everywhere for purchase or free at hotels) Line B included Coliseum and attractions that run that way through town.
We take the metro to the Colosseo stop (all stops are written in Italian so just know which Italian stop is yours and its simple) where we meet up with Nicoli, our tour guide for the Roman Forum and Coliseum walking tour.
As we emerge from the metro to meet Nicoli, there is the Coliseum! Right across the street! As we wait for our whole group to arrive for the tour, we just watch the hustle and bustle of this busy area and gaze at the Coliseum..... enjoying the fountain we can fill our water bottles up from, that has been there since before the days of the Gladiators.
Once we have our whole group present, we plug our ear pieces into the radio around our neck so we can hear what Nicoli has to tell us. We cross a busy street and enter the Coliseum.
Having grown up learning about this place and seeing pictures, documentaries and reading about it, I thought I had a pretty good idea how big it was..... Not even close! Its so large you cant quite grasp the enormity of it.. As we stand in the center of the inner ring, we try to imagine what it was like when in use, holding 50,000 people and a huge stage that could house actual forest, jungle-themed sets where they would bring in specific trees to make back drops and so much more... it takes you a moment to pause and just try to absorb it all. If ever in Rome, you MUST pay the money for a tour of this place... you could enter on your own and enjoy the largeness of it, but when you have a guide who is Roman, you get history and information you woudnt otherwise get.
Standing in the the Coliseum ,we can look out at Palentine hill and the Roman Forum, this is where we will head next in this tour.
As we head into the Roman Forum, learning about the layers of sediment that covered all of this, later to be dug up.... we are in awe of what they were able to build so long ago. It is a gorgeous, sunny, but overcast afternoon as we walk on hand-laid rock paths that are centuries old..... it causes us to become quiet and reflective.
To think, that at one time the Apostle Paul could've walked these same roads... drank from the same fountains!
The attention to detail in the arches, columns, and the stories they told in marble is just incredible! This is a place we could come back many times and still not see it all, still not notice everything.... enjoyed this very much.
After this tour, we take our weary feet to the nearest metro access, then ride the metro to stop near our hotel and search for a place to eat. We enjoy a delicious meal and then wearily walk to our hotel, head full of what we've just seen..... check into our typical small European room and are asleep minutes after showering and laying down. What a perfect introduction to this great city: Rome.
#Rome #europeangetaway #Italy #historic #travel #Europe #iloveitaly
Sleepy but excited we head to our hotel to check in but it is too early, so we leave our bags and walk to a place for lunch.
Now armed with our metro passes, we head to use the metro for the first time. This was an intimidating thought for me but it is actually quite simple. There are 2 lines that run through Rome. Line A (red) and Line B (blue). Line A goes to Vatican, and Testaccio Market and more. (there are maps everywhere for purchase or free at hotels) Line B included Coliseum and attractions that run that way through town.
We take the metro to the Colosseo stop (all stops are written in Italian so just know which Italian stop is yours and its simple) where we meet up with Nicoli, our tour guide for the Roman Forum and Coliseum walking tour.
As we emerge from the metro to meet Nicoli, there is the Coliseum! Right across the street! As we wait for our whole group to arrive for the tour, we just watch the hustle and bustle of this busy area and gaze at the Coliseum..... enjoying the fountain we can fill our water bottles up from, that has been there since before the days of the Gladiators.
Having grown up learning about this place and seeing pictures, documentaries and reading about it, I thought I had a pretty good idea how big it was..... Not even close! Its so large you cant quite grasp the enormity of it.. As we stand in the center of the inner ring, we try to imagine what it was like when in use, holding 50,000 people and a huge stage that could house actual forest, jungle-themed sets where they would bring in specific trees to make back drops and so much more... it takes you a moment to pause and just try to absorb it all. If ever in Rome, you MUST pay the money for a tour of this place... you could enter on your own and enjoy the largeness of it, but when you have a guide who is Roman, you get history and information you woudnt otherwise get.
Standing in the the Coliseum ,we can look out at Palentine hill and the Roman Forum, this is where we will head next in this tour.
To think, that at one time the Apostle Paul could've walked these same roads... drank from the same fountains!
The attention to detail in the arches, columns, and the stories they told in marble is just incredible! This is a place we could come back many times and still not see it all, still not notice everything.... enjoyed this very much.
#Rome #europeangetaway #Italy #historic #travel #Europe #iloveitaly
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