July 11^th, 2012

Day 53: Rome, Italy

On our second morning in Rome, we had to check out, store our luggage and then check back in due to the fact that the hostel needed us to change rooms. We were supposed to be checked out by 10 but after a late night, naturally that’s about the time we got up and started packing. No big deal though, we didn’t get in any trouble!

After we were ready, Stephen and I (along with our friends from the night before) made our way to the Colosseum! This was something I’d been waiting for FOREVER. I’m constantly impressed by the history that this city has to offer and spending a few hours in the Colosseum simply reinforced that idea. To sum it up, the Colosseum was the main source of entertainment for early Roman civilization. There were gladiator battles held here, wild animal hunts, public punishments, etc. In essence, where the idea for the Hunger Games all began.

The seats were organized by status level, essentially, with the elected officials sitting closest to the center of the ring rising up to the upper levels, where the poorest of the citizens sat to watch. I think they said that they estimate a total of 50,000 people could fit in the stadium. You can even still see some of the inscriptions in the stone that labeled each Senator’s seat. It was tough to wrap my head around exactly how old and how important this structure was to life of the ancient Romans.  Crazy… absolutely crazy.

After the Colosseum, Stephen and I decided that it was time to eat (after skipping breakfast…oops!). We found a local restaurant that had an awesome lunch special- 6 euro for a HUGE plate of gnocchi! We both ordered the gnocchi and it did not disappoint! The staff were also really great so it was an awesome experience overall.

After lunch, we made our way back to the Trevi fountain and made a wish with some 20 cent pieces! We forgot to make a wish/throw a coin into the fountain the first time, so we had to go back! 

After getting some gelato (a daily occurrence now.. this time with yogurt and peach flavors), we made our way across the city to the Spanish steps and piazza. We were in front of the steps at the fountain when Stephen had a close call with certain death, but no worries- he emerged from the water bottle filling in the fountain quest unscathed.

We walked up the steps and then around that area for a while, trying to find the Piazza de Popolo. This seems to be a common theme with us- wander until you find what you’re looking for and occasionally use a map. It’s working quite well so far.

After we spent some time in the Piazza (post-highway walking and metro navigating when we finally found it), we made our way back to the hostel so that we could book our hostel in Florence and take care of a few other things. We made our way to the grocery store as well to look for some sunscreen (see my facebook for details as to why) and a few other things. Eventually, we bought a bottle of wine, put it into water bottles and made our way to Campo Dei Fiori to hang out for the night. We enjoyed a delicious Doner Kebab for dinner, got some bracelets for 1 euro from an overeager street vendor and had a great time overall. We made our way back to our hostel at a decent time and went to be so we’d be ready for tomorrow!

Favorite part of the day: The Colosseum for sure. I’m such a geek when it comes to things like this and I absolutely loved the time we spent there.