Rome: Day 2

Day 2 in Rome was our Colosseum day. It was sunny and going to be in the 80's. We had pre-purchaced our entry passes at home, and we hoped to get there before the cruise ship groups started coming in. Well, we still had to deal with some cruise crowds, but by buying our passes ahead of time, we were able to bypass a lot of other people. I LOVE the Colosseum, or Amphitheatrum Flavium. I am not really sure why, but I do. It is an amazing structure not to mention the history that comes along with it. It was built between 70-80 AD. What was a little weird at this visit, is that they were setting up for some event that night. So, among the ancient walls there was a modern stage with lights and speakers!

With the Colosseum pass you get entry into the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
We headed over to Palatine next, after getting some ice cold "still" water and Coke Zero. Also there was a stop at the Arch of Constantine to get pictures. Palatine Hill is where we got the word "palace." This site is where many emperors chose to live. Also, Roman mythology indicates the western side of the Palatine Hill as the site of the dwelling of Romulus, and the cave where Romulus and Remus were supposed to have been raised by the she-wolf was on the western slope of the hill. We also toured the House of Augustus.For most of history, the home of Rome's very first emperor and Julius Caesar's grandnephew, Octavian Augustus, lay undiscovered. That changed in 1961 when Palatine excavations revealed a fragment of painted plaster. Further digging unearthed a house. But not just any house: the palace that Octavian lived in for 40 years, both before and after he became emperor

On to the Forum: The Forum was the center of the ancient city, a place to see and to be seen, to catch up on the latest news and gossip, do some shopping, business and even to be entertained. Nowadays all we see are ruins, mostly due to the plundering which took place in the Middle Ages as the great monuments were ravaged and had their marble and other elements stripped off them for the building of the Vatican and other Papal palaces and churches.
The Forum started life as a marshy area, a meeting place for the early inhabitants of the surrounding hills. By the 5th century BC it had evolved into Rome's city-centre, a place for political assemblies, riots, demonstrations, trials, gladiatorial shows and various public festivities. The marshy ground had been drained, the Cloaca Maxima had been created and one could see lofty patrician houses amidst the hustle and bustle of a market filled with food stalls, various imported and local goods and even cattle in the area closer to the river. This location with the flowers in the picture below is supposedly where Julius Caesar was burned after his death. 

The lunch that day was strictly okay. It was too close to all the touristy areas. After lunch we walked up the stairs of Vittorio Emanuele II Monument. On these stairs is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with an eternal flame and two armed guards. Victor Emmanuel II was the first king of a unified Italy. (I finally remember this after Kelsey kept quizzing me on him!)

We walked back to our apartment and had dinner at the same restaurant as the night before. We were going to try another restaurant in the neighborhood, but it was closed on a Sunday night. I tried their ravioli. Yep, it was good.