Day 3: Colosseum, Palatine Hill & Roman Forum

Our morning started out with breakfast downstairs at the hotel—so very thankful for this. I am really glad that we decided to stay in a hotel as we adjusted to being outside the US. I think if we had jumped straight into the Airbnb, obviously we would have been OK, but it just would have been a bigger adjustment all at once. It was nice to have a somewhat similar set up in unfamiliar territory. And having a set place for breakfast, in a country that doesn't do breakfast like Americans do, really helped relieve some stress. We were greeted every morning by the staff, and they took our drink orders, and there was a wonderful assortment of breakfast items at the bar, including cheeses, bacon, cappuccinos, bread slices, and jellies—including peach, my favorite!

We didn't have a far walk from where we were staying to the Colosseum and the closer we got, the more people were yelling at us for skip the line tours and selfie sticks. It was really overwhelming for me because I don't think I was mentally prepared for it. There's just so much hustle and so much coming at you at any given moment, and being in a new place, I was just...overwhelmed.

Thankfully, we got into line right away with our Roma Passes. We made it through security and somehow followed the other tourists to the right line. (There were so many?!) We walked up to the second level, walked around, and started taking pictures. Even though it was very touristy, it was nonetheless majestic.

Here, I'll be transparent. T and I got into a little argument. He said something to me, and I really was feeling so overwhelmed by everything around me, without having a chance to really process it (introvert problems), and I just crumpled. So right there, in the middle of the crowds, in the Colosseum, I cried a little. Even though what T said had started the tears, I think it was just the newness of everything and it felt good to cry. You can see in some of the pictures my eyes are puffy and red.

I share this just because I think it's important to note that traveling to new places that are so different can be overwhelming. And it's ok to be overwhelmed. To feel feelings. It's weird to leave your culture behind where you speak the language and don't have to worry about how you're getting around to a new place where there's no English, and understanding how and where to go to the bathroom is even challenging. Give yourself grace, take things slow, take things in, and it'll be OK.

After my moment, T and I were better and tried to listen to our Rick Steves audio tour. T shared that a man dressed like the grim reaper would come and drag the dead bodies away after a fight. Unfortunately we found it's really hard to concentrate when the other half of the group isn't listening to a tour and they want to talk about what they're seeing along the way, so we ended up just putting away our earbuds and taking in the sights with the rest of the group.

The Colosseum really is massive and a lot taller than I thought. People looked super tiny above and below us. When we walked down to the first level, it was so cool within the shade provided by the stone walls.















From the Colosseum, we walked by the Arch of Constantine. It was beautiful, but again the hawkers everywhere stole a little bit of the magic of it all. There were so many different kinds--those selling water, others selling selfie-sticks, some trying to give tours, and other groups trying to start conversations to be able to sell people bracelets or other items they had made.



From there, we went to find the Palatine Hill entrance. It started to get hot, we were already tired and getting hungry, but thought we'd be able to push through, see Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum quickly then head to lunch.

There was no quickly.

I had severely underestimated how big Palatine Hill was and how much there was to see. And then we also spent time walking up the wrong hill trying to find the line that we had already passed at the bottom of the hill. Slap face emoji here.

So we walked back to the bottom of the hill and made it through the line to enter. Everything was beautiful and there was so much of it to see. We walked through the gardens, made it to a lookout point where we could see everything. On our adventure, there was also a dark cave with music playing and it was so relaxing.

Love my Rothys!

The sculptures and the pillars and columns of the Roman Forum were beautiful. We sat for just a moment and I was listening to all the many people around us. I heard so many different languages.

We were all so hungry then, and frustrated. We got separated and there was a miscommunication about what exit we were supposed to leave through, which wouldn't have been such a big deal, but we were trying to only have 1 phone use international data. T's mom ended up calling us and I remember seeing T's dad waving at us from afar. I was so thankful when were back together.

We left and found a place to eat called Delizie e Sapori for pizza and pasta. We were all so happy to be sitting and to have water to drink. We got bread for the table and it was so good.

Knowing that we were walking back home, I didn't stuff myself with all of the calzone I ordered. I've gotten better about leaving food if I'm full and not eating it out of fear of wasting it or money.

On our way back, we stopped for gelato. T opted for strawberry this time whereas he got me hooked on pistachio. When we got back to the hotel, I took a long, hot shower, and after we had all relaxed for a while we met in the hotel bar to discuss our plan for the next over cappuccinos and caffe americanos.

My thoughts on today were that I wish I had been better prepared for Palatine Hill and just how big it was. I wish that we spent money on a tour at the Colosseum so we would have known more of the history,  maybe even from a local’s perspective. I also know that if we were to do this again, we would definitely grab lunch in between the Colosseum and Palatine Hill so that we wouldn't feel rushed to get through it. All in all, it was beautiful and I'm glad we got to visit these places.

edit / 5.6.18 2:14pm