We started off the day with a nice morning sunrise run through the streets of Florence. After this run we boarded the bus for a four-hour bus ride down to Roma. We made a quick stop at the Auto Grill for a snack and bathroom break.
When we first laid eyes on the Colosseum, everyone was amazed, but this was just the start!
Once we got off the bus we all gathered in the streets of Rome near the Colosseum. Everyone broke off into groups to get a traditional Italian street meal. Once we all reconvened outside the monstrous Colosseum, we walked to meet our guide. This guide provided us with an extremely descriptive lesson highlighting the importance of the Colosseum in many different aspects of history.
We started in the basement with the outer walls learning about the reasons of construction and materials used before moving into the upper decks and viewing areas. Our guide helped us imagine what a full arena with over 70,000 Romans would look and feel like as they cheered over the gladiator fights. Once we explored all levels of the Colosseum we moved outside to take more pictures and walked westward to the larger courtyard connecting to the Roman Forum.
We headed towards the ancient Roman Forum for some more sightseeing. As we walked in, we were all in awe by the ruins left behind and the massive structures still standing. We walked past the grave of Julius Caesar and explored the Casa Romuli. Some of our group went off to explore on their own and take pictures since our tour guide was very talkative, but others stayed because he gave us lots of insight of the stories of Ancient Rome.
After the Forum, we walked into the Santi Cosma e Damiano church and reflected for a little while until heading over to the Vittoriano, which is used as an area to honor fallen soldiers. This is similar to America’s “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.” We then headed to dinner and had saltimbocca with potatoes and tiramisu. We finally took the bus to our new hotel on the outskirts of the main city and rested after our long day.
Looking like an amazing day, topped off with a rainbow!