We woke up to our alarm at 7.15. We were both still asleep!

We had an 8.40 timeslot at the Colosseum so needed to get going. We grabbed a croissant for breakfast and headed for a train. And guess what…..I got us onto the wrong train going in the wrong direction! Oops! So again, we had to hop off and catch a train back and get the correct train. Again, so pleased that we had unlimited travel. So, we arrived at the Colosseum at the last minute, but we were there.  It looks very different by day.

We enjoyed walking around it. To think that it is just over 2000 years old is mind boggling. In fact it is 2100 years old.

Understanding how the animals used to come out, where the dead bodies were taken out and that the base was sand, to absorb the blood and sweat was interesting to say the least!

Pictures of the Colosseum don’t do justice to it’s size.

There were a lot more people around when we came out of the Colosseum. We crossed over the road to the Roma Forum and Palatine Hill. We walked around here for about 2 hours. Very interesting and again, huge! Towards the end of the morning, the crowds were getting bigger by the minute!  I would hate to think of what it will be like tomorrow as there is free entrance on the first Sunday of the month!

We bought a Gelato (yes, another one) and caught a bus back to our hotel.

After grabbing a quite bite to eat, we headed off for the Vatican City by bus.

We walked to see St Peters Basilica and St Peters Square. The queue was too long to enter the Basilica, as we had a booked timeslot for Vatican City.

Vatican City was a great experience. We are becoming cultural connoisseurs fast!  The art was beautiful, particularly the ceilings.  You walk looking up all the time.  We were disappointed with the Sistine Chapel, as we were herded through like cattle, and told to be quiet as it is a sacred place.  However the staff yelled all the time, sending us through at the rate of knots. We were also told no photos, but William and I had already each taken 1. Oh well….sorry…..

It is unbelievable how many people visit Rome daily!

We then went back to St Paul’s but it was closed.  Off to the metro we went, and caught the correct metro back to Termini.  We ordered some pasta for supper which was lovely and then headed ‘home”.  We have walked 20.96 kms and we are buggered!  Our feet and backs are reminding us that we are in our fifties!

Until tomorrow!