"When in Rome"

SPRING BREAK 2013 (Florence, Rome, Naples)
ROME:
Romance in Antiquity

We woke up reallllly early the first day in Rome so that we would beat the crowds to the Colosseum and Roman Forum because we heard that the lines were ridiculous to these major tourist attractions. We showed up to the Colosseum at the same time as the sun. It was so early in fact that we had to wait a half hour for the entrance to open. I can't say I've ever been out of the house that early on my own will before. We watched the sun rise through the windows of the Colosseum, it was a movie moment, and then meandered our way into the building with the first 50 people of the day. It was lucky that we we able to take our photos without the huge crowds there so that you can actually see the Colosseum in the photos and not just a bunch of tour groups wearing matching ball caps.

Afterwards we ventured into the Roman Forum which is this huge complex of ruins right across the street from the Colosseum. There are only two entrances and two exits from this expansive and enclosed archaeology site. After wandering around for hours and hours we finally decided it was time to leave and snag some lunch but the only problem was we couldn't find our way out! We felt like caged animals. We kept thinking we found the path out but would then reach the end and find another blockade! I was a wild goose chase that significantly increased my sympathy for animals caged at the zoo. At least we finally were able to find our way out, the poor zoo animals are always hopelessly searching for the way out to no avail.

Gelato every day all day. 

We saw sooo many things that first day in Rome I don't know how my little feetsies managed. One of the things that impressed me most was the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier pictured below. It was just so large and intricate and smack dab in the middle of the city. It put the USA WWII memorial to shame. 

The Trevi Fountain is one of those things that stun you when you see it for the first time in real life no matter how many images of it you have seen before or how much imagining you have done about it before. Like everything in Rome, it was so much larger than I thought it would be. The water and statues were so much prettier than I thought they would be. And the crowd surrounding the fountain was so thick and loud it was a sobering moment that made me think "wow, we are really here in Rome, this is real life."

Still more sight seeing to be done we found our way to the Spanish steps. This Italian spring break gave me the opportunity to perfect my map reading skills. I never have an excuse to get lost again after finding my way through those twisty turny tiny changing old roman streets. I am kind of a control freak in these types of situations that involve time lines and the possibility of getting lost so I took most control over the directions. 

It wouldn't have been authentic if there weren't Fiats everywhere.