Upon exiting the metro at the aptly named Coloseo stop, the Colosseum appears before you in all its majesty. There is no way to miss this massive Roman structure as it stands directly ahead of you. It calls to you to take out your camera and photograph it until your memory card is full.
Roman Colosseum
We decide to forego the trip inside for now as our tummies were grumbling for lunch. We turned our attention to Palatine hill and the restaurants that lay beyond. As you walk along the streets architectural wonders lay before you. You don’t know what to take a photograph of first. Statues of Caesar litter this street, old pillars are seen on both sides of the street no longer holding up any structure and beautiful buildings remain intact amid this.
Palatine Hill
One of the great things about Italy is the little brown signs that direct you to certain monuments. After lunch we followed some of the signs to find our way to the famous Spanish Steps. It is hard to grasp how big and crowded certain attractions are until you get there. This is the view from more than halfway up the famous staircase and still the church looms above you making it hard to get a sense of scale.
Spanish Steps, Rome
After spending some time at the steps we head back to the metro to go to the Colosseum. We were hoping to get into the Colosseum that evening but when we came out of the metro the gloomy clouds did not seem like they would hold in the rain much longer. I suggested that we go around the Colosseum once and decide from there whether to chance it. We were almost around it when the clouds finally broke.
Colosseum in the rain
The downpour had us scurrying to some trees. As my friend turned to me to ask if it was safe to be under the trees, my reply was drowned out by the thunder as it boomed through the courtyard. Off we raced to the edge of the Colosseum. Hugging the edges we got drenched before giving in and purchasing an umbrella from one of the vendors. Note to self do not leave your umbrella/rain jacket in the hotel for any reason. 🙂 Thus ended our second day in Rome.
