February 25: Rome Day 1!

Last night was pretty awful. Amanda and I are both horribly sick, so we went to bed at 8 hoping for at least 10 hrs of sleep, but then our roommates, two LOUD Italians, came in at 10. They left the light on and didn't even pretend to whisper though we were clearly trying to sleep. Thank goodness they left by 10:30. Had a very hard time sleeping because of sinuses and fever, which left me hot and cold and hot again. I think I fell back to sleep around 12. My pillow is foam and huge like a rock, not at all good for a plugged and draining nose. The roommates came back at 2, and left the light on, were loud, and took forever to settle then kept talking! Horrible! My fever was back with a vengeance and I was way too hot. Fell back to sleep at 3. At 4, woken up by snoring Italian girl! She's like my uncles at deer season! So bad! We would slam the tables and she would stop for awhile but start again. Finally she shut up around 5. Alarm went off at 6:45. Ugh.

The Colosseum



We dressed and got ready, probably not as quietly as we could have. Oops. Ate pb&j and packed more for lunch. I had 2 apples from London, too. Were out the door by 8, headed to the Colosseum. We got there after just 20 minutes of strolling and had even stopped to find our other hosted on the way (and got turned around and circled a block). We took pictures in the lovely, warm sunlight, marvelled a bit, then bought tickets inside (combined Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill for €12 each). The Colosseum was incredible!!! So interesting to see in person. I was amazed by how many layers there were. Thankfully, I found a good English guidebook in a gift shop there, so we don't feel quite so lost.



Somewhere in the Forum



Went to the Forum next. Very pretty ruins. Lots of little white asters with purple backs blooming in the sun. We wandered for a long time, ate lunch on some steps and fed pigeons. Lots of fun. Very warm in the sun, cool in the shade. Next we went to Trajen's Column. Again, we were surprised at how close it was. It's as intricate as I thought it would be from studying it, but I was surprised to see it sunken and with lots of buildings around it. We were intrigued by some statues, so we went and explored and discovered the giant monument to Emmanuel II. Weren't real sure what it was exactly, but eventually figured it out. Lovely views from the top, but blinding sun. My stupid fever came back around then, but the statues were just amazing. Very gaudy, but impressive. Seems like they stuck literally every style of statue on top of a giant wedding cake. Sat back on the steps by Trajen's Column for sandwich #2 and fed a very nice and polite pigeon hen. Bid her farewell and found the Trevi Fountain. So beautiful!!! Was surprised it wasn't in its own square or something. I threw in my coins.

Pretty little asters

My favorite colored pigeon

I have no clue what this was, but it was big, somewhere in the Forum

Trajen's Column

Trajen's Column

Tito's Arch (Arch of Titus), near the Forum

Trevi Fountain

Since it was only 1pm, we had lots of time to kill, so we went and found the Treinto Fountain with a merman and fish. Then we waltzed over to the Spanish Steps. There are a LOT of steps! We decided to get gelato, so we picked a side-street and wandered but somehow we picked the one Roman street without a gelateria!We circled back and found some. Amanda had lemon and I had wonderful dark chocolate, which we ate on the steps while ignoring the obnoxious street vendors. By then were were both very tired and I was feverish so we started home, passing the Quattro Fontanas. Got home by 3:30 but had such a full day in so little time! I can't believe we saw so much. Amanda napped while I read the guide-book. We went out for groceries at Termini and found a little takeaway place for pizza run by an old man and his son that looked surprisingly clean and friendly in this dirty and shady part of town. We brought it home to eat and it was very good. The crust was bready, with cheese and zucchini in olive oil sauce.

Tomorrow: wake up at 6, do the Vatican. Tonight is shower, make lunch, take sleeping pill and hopefully not kill roommates.