Our feet still aching from the long day at the Vatican, we made our way to the Colosseum early in the morning for our tour. We booked our tour through Liv Tours, which has a maximum group size of 6. The small group size definitely suits us best and has a nice personal touch. At first we struggled to find our meeting point since the Colosseum subway station has both a lower and upper level exit. During our search we found some nice photo points. Finally we realized that to go upstairs we had to re-enter the subway station and turn left to go up a set of stairs. From there we emerged at the upper exit and found the check in.
Our tour guide Giovanni was excellent. He unerringly led us through the maze of ever shifting lines (“Italian lines” he called them with a laugh), security checkpoints, and ID checks. In his bag he carried a binder with renderings of the building as it once would have looked that helped us grasp the scale and grandeur. We started upstairs to view the Colosseum from above, then down to the middle level. At first the crowd wasn’t too bad, but by the time we finished the middle level it was starting to get busier. The final part in the Colosseum and a bonus feature for this tour was access at the ground floor level. There was another series of lines, ID checks, and security to enter that section. It was awe inspiring to stand in the center and look up at the height of the walls above.
With the tour of the Colosseum complete, we then proceeded onward to Palatine Hill. It was definitely helpful to have a guide for this part, as many of the ruins were barely recognizable. Giovanni explained that while the sack of Rome and earthquakes did take a toll on the buildings, the marble and other valuable building materials were mostly “recycled” by future generations of Romans to improve newer buildings in the city. Those elaborate churches and mansions of the Middle Ages and Renniassance? Decorated with the remains of Ancient Rome.
Palatine hill was quite a climb and while the temperature was only about 70 according to my phone, it felt much warmer. It was a perfect day for photos though. We had a great overlook of the site of the Circus Maximus, and then of the scale of the Roman Forum. With the general layout in mind, we then wound our way back down the hill to walk among the buildings of the Forum. The three hour tour ended at the Basilica of Maxentius as we tried to imagine the immense height of the stone arches that once connected the two sides of the building in a giant vaulted ceiling.
For lunch we wandered down Via Cavour as it was the nearest area with restaurants. What a tourist street! We passed two or three blocks of restaurants with picture menus and/or menus 50+ items long, already packed with people on the patio. Hungry and not wanting to deal with an overhyped and complicated lunch, we stepped into the first semi-quiet looking place we came to. It was going for a quirky bar vibe with retro art, dim, and black walls. Looking at the rather tattered menu that had pasta, meat dishes, pizza, sandwiches, and more we wondered if we had made the right choice. We went with sandwiches and they were huge and tasty. It was an “authenticly touristy” Italian experience.
After lunch we walked over to the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II. We climbed as high as we could go without a ticket and had an excellent view over the city, even managing to sit on the stairs long enough for a decent rest before the staff came and told people not to sit. It must be a constant battle.
Our final stop of the day was the Galleria Doris Pamphilj. This is a large private art collection located in a palace owned by the Doris Pamphili family of Rome. The audio guide provided a tour of the house which was an interesting supplement to the commentary about the art. One of the most interesting rooms was a hall of framed mirrors which reflected golden light through the length of the corridor.
Exhausted, we decided to try taking the bus back to Prati rather than trying to trudge back to the subway. Finding the correct stop was confusing and we had to run after the bus as it pulled in further up the block. We made it on, then did the not-so-fun payment shuffle as the fare machine didn’t want to get along with my Apple Pay and I had to dig out my credit card for tap-and-go while the bus was moving. Payment challenges aside, it was a good ride that got us back to near our Air BnB efficiently and with the bonus of some extra views of the city.
Not wanting to go out again, we stopped at the supermarket and got fresh ravioli and a salad for dinner which we made up in our Air BnB kitchen. One more day in Rome – will our feet be up to it?