The Colosseum and Forum

We had a big day planned today - it was our tour of the Colosseum! We decided to take the tram to our tour's meeting point, but we got off quickly to see the grave sites of John Keats and Percy Shelley (we saw their house earlier if you recall).

After paying homage to these poets, we hopped back on the tram and made it to the Colosseum where we met our tour guide, Sonia (who was wearing 4" wedge heels!). We were equipped with ear bud headsets and a receiver device which allowed us to hear Sonia without being right next to her. This is important because there are so many people at the Colosseum! She led us around the outside first and explained where the gladiators' barracks would have been and how they hoisted the shades to provide some shade for the spectators. Then we got to go in a private entrance which led us right onto the floor of the Colosseum! It was an incredible vantage point as you could see up and down. Then we were led to where the spectators would enter and sit; we also got to see where the emperors would be seated. It was a lengthy and in depth tour, but most of it was in the shaded areas so it wasn't too hot.

Our guide then took us over to the Forum. We had to pass through security before getting into the area that once housed the vestal virgins and the senate. It is almost all in ruins now, but our guide had a book that showed what people believe these structures would have looked like. The Forum offered no shade, so our group was pretty parched by the end of the tour! Nonetheless it was an excellent tour that I would recommend paying the extra money for.

When the tour finished, we decided to take the tram back to our neighbourhood and get groceries. It was nearly 4 and we hadn't had time for lunch yet. We shopped at CarreFour, which is the same chain we shopped at in Paris. The selection was incredible and we found a lot of great items, plus we had fun looking at all the groceries like frozen whole squid, the huge bottles of pop, and all the sliced meats (oh, and the whole fresh rabbits).

Once we got home, we had lunch and cooled down. Tonight, we are going to an outdoor concert by the Lumineers, which we are all excited about (although it requires taking 2 buses, so we will see how we do)!Read more