On our last full day in Rome, we opted for a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Thankfully, the Pantheon was a convenient stop en route to our meet up location. We arrived to that part of town early enough to walk right inside the Pantheon and look around.
You can see crowds ebb and flow in these photos and it all has to do with the time of day. We had the Pantheon area mostly to ourselves and 30 minutes later it was filled with crowds of people.
After the Pantheon it was time for our Colosseum tour. Check out this ridiculous view that we got on our walk to the entrance. Hello, gorgeous!
Hearing all the stories of epic battles fought by gladiators in the Roman Colosseum is nothing compared to seeing this place in person. I couldn’t help but think of all the books, movies, and mythology that involve this legendary arena. This may be old news to many of you but Emperor Nero even flooded parts of the Colosseum to re-enact naval battles for spectators.
I pictured the Vestal Virgins watching from their own place of honor in the stands. I could see emperors gazing down with their hands outstretched to decide the fate of a man.
This place has some crazy intense vibes.
Walking around places like the Colosseum make me wish that we all had a teacher like Miss Frizzle and a magic school bus to take us right to the source for every history lesson. Side note: If you are the teacher like Miss Frizzle then you keep on keepin’ on. We need more people like you.
The best place to view the Arch of Constantine is from inside the Colosseum. You can see it peeking through below.
The large cross inside the Colosseum is there by request of the Catholic Church to honor all Christians who were martyred inside the arena.
Our tours were broken up half way through the day so we did what you’re not supposed to do and looked for a place close to the Colosseum. Every blog and travel guide says not to eat super close because the food is overpriced but there were times on our trip when we couldn’t walk another step without eating. We landed at the Royal Art Café and got the best table in the whole place next to an open window with this view. Are you kidding me??? I think my eyes turned into actual cartoon hearts.
After lunch we headed back for a quick tour of the Roman Forum and one last photo with the Colosseum in the back drop.
Every muscle in our bodies hurt at the end of this day and I would do it all over again. Next time we’re there I’ll make sure to schedule me and the mister for a deep tissue massage at the end of our trip. Out of all the cities we visited in Italy, I would go back to Rome in a heart beat. Roma, sei bellissima.