Today was our first full day in Italy and we headed straight for the Coloseum. Actually, we had to buy our Roma pass first which would allow us to bypass the nasty lines at the Coloseum and many other places. We were going to go to a Tourist Information booth to buy them which was a little bit out of our way, but then Dan remembered that often times you can buy them in tobacco shops etc. He  remembered this tid bit of info, just as we were passing buy a shop so we ducked in and sure enough! Smart thinkin', Danny.

We made our way to the site that Rome is perhaps the most famous for. There were hoards of tour groups being dropped off by big buses. We did, indeed save a LOT of time being able to go through the special "Roma Pass" line that had about 5 people in it. We then went through "security" which was really just two Italian men in uniform having a conversation with each other while people walked by. Easiest security check I've ever been through.

Inside we were treated to all the sights you would expect here. It's just like it looks on TV. Big, old, and amazingly still well in tact after all of these years. The best part of it, for me, was that it was so accessable. There were marble pillars and sculptures and other things that were just right there for you to touch. Not much was behind baracades or glass or anything. Artifacts are usually things you see in a museum setting. But these were right there, just waiting for you to approach and interact with. It was really a treat.

Next we made our way to the Forum. This was something I was particularly looking forward to. It was really hot, but luckily there are these really neat public fountains where you can fill your water bottle. More on that in another post. It was a bit crowded and we actually skipped seeing some of the stuff because of the masses of people. One of the cool things we stumbled upon was an area that was fenced off for studends who were doing an archelogical dig. They all had various tools and were meticulously brushing away dirt from the stones that lye beneath. How they were able to tell old stones and dirt from the new stuff, I'm not sure, but they looked like they knew what they were doing.

Once through the Forum, we decided that we were pretty hungry so we found a little place to grap a couple of slices of pizza that were delicious. After the pizza, it was time for some gelato. There was a Whiskey Cream flavor that Dan and I each tried. DELISH! We then made our way back to the hotel for a little nap before heading out for dinner. We passed through some pretty amazing nieghborhoods including this one:

By this point we are getting pretty good at navigating the streets without getting run over  by taxis or Vespas. I wanted to take photos of everything and I think Dan was getting a bit tired of waiting for me.

Sorry, Danny. I just can't help myself sometimes. There were so many interesting stores to look at and people to watch. The beauty here is really never ending.

And so that was our day. I'll do a seperate post on our dinner. For now, it's time to sign off and say buona sera!