Post Birthday weekend in the Eternal City - Evening 1 and First Full Day

Two weeks ago we made the trip up to Rome.  It was sort of a post birthday gift for me as my birthday was on a weekday. 

We arrived by train from Naples at about 6:30 pm and after a bit of wandering found our way to the B and B Naif.    http://www.romanaif.com/en/Place.html

After a bit of settling in and cleaning up we were in search of dinner.  We used the app Eat Rome to find a wonderful restaurant called Danilo.

Dave enjoying Carbonara ala Danilo.

     Dave enjoyed the speciality of the house, carbonara and I had oricciette with shrimp and truffles. Our evening was the perfect beginning to our Roman holiday.


  The following morning we got a late start but but it was worth being able to sleep undisturbed by the needs of the animals.

  We walked the 20 minutes from our hotel to the Colosseum.  It is sort of a strange feeling turning a corner and seeing this ancient monolith rise up in front of you. 
   

       We spent the better part of tow hours exploring every angle of this amazing place where so many fought and died.  My cousin asked if it was a little creepy thinking of that but my impression was more like being on a giant movie set.  It just didn't feel real to me.  You look around you and you know the age of this place and the history but for me it just didn't sink in.  I guess it was too grand to wrap my poor little brain around.

    Most of the floor of the arena is gone so you see the the maze that was below that held all of the animals and men and equipment, including elevators to stage the games.  There is a small portion of the floor that has been restored so you can see how it would have looked with the sand covering the boards to soak up the blood that was spilled.

   The Colosseum had a capacity of approximately 55,000 people who entered and exited through 80 entrances.  Interestingly enough, the Colosseum could be fully emptied after the games in around 30 minutes.  Another amazing and disturbing fact is that just for its inauguration in 80 AD some 9.000 wild animals were slaughtered.  It gives a gruesome perspective on the blood lust that existed at the time.

    From the walls of the Colosseum we could see our next stop on the day's sightseeing but first we needed lunch.

View of the Arch of Constantine from the Colosseum

  We again made use of the handy Eat Rome app to find our luncheon quarry a tiny place called Cavour 313.  This little wine bar has a huge selection of wine that can be ordered by the glass or bottle. It is very easy to spend more on wine than on food however the food is marvelous.

    We kept our food simple by having meats and cheeses and brad.  This is our personal favorite way to eat so it worked out.

Tiny place that you can easily walk right past

Dave checking out his choices

Our wine selection

These are a cured meat similar to prociutto wrapped around herbed goat cheese drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and topped with toasted hazelnuts.  Delicious!

      Now that our tummies are full we made our way back to the wonders that make Rome such and amazing place.  On the way Dave had to chase a few pigeons and get molested by a huckster selling photos with parakeets.

       From there we wandered up to Trajan's Column which depicts the Roman's victories in the Dacian wars.  Originally the column was topped with the figure of Trajan himself but it disappeared sometime during the Middle Ages and now is a pedestal for a bronze figure of St. Peter.

    On the way back down to go to the Forum we had lovely view of the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  This is a modern monument built in the 1880's and inaugurated in 1911.  It is a symbol of the Italy and houses the tomb of the unknowns.

     Then on to the Forum!  I was excited to go and see the Forum but I think I was not prepared for the fact that it is really mainly a large area for ruins with not a lot of information as to what was what.  It is interesting and a must do in Rome but I didn't need to spend a ton of time walking through it.

   This first full day in Rome ended with a not so great dining experience and a long walk back to our residence.  We did however stop for gelato at the oldest gelateria in Italy.  It was a good treat after a long day.