Inside the Coliseum
Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum
Our last dinner in Europe
Day 16: Friday, April 20, 2007
The Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palentine Hill
Today was our day to see some of the major sites around Rome. The day started off on the wrong foot though. We caught a subway to the Coliseum, but somewhere along the way Eric's wallet got stolen. He split off from the group to deal with the situation and the rest of us moved on to the Coliseum.
Rome is full of ancient sites, but nothing stands out more than the old sports arena known in Italy as Colosseo. As we walked up to it, the walls towered above us. We imagined ourselves on gameday 2000 years ago walking among the crowds. The Coliseum sat 50,000 - 70,000 fans so the atmosphere had to be similar to a UT football game. We spent a couple hours exploring the Coliseum, then made our way to the Roman Forum nearby.
On Wednesday night we peered down on the Forum from above, but today we got to walk through it. The Forum is a classic ruin site: old arches, columns and buildings are scattered about. We visited sites such as the Arch of Titus and the Temple of Saturn. Afterward we made a hike up Palentine Hill, which at one time served as the private residence of Rome's leaders. It's also a ruin site. We got to see old gardens and fountains now in decay.
By this time our legs were worn out and it was time to take a rest. We all decided to head back to the hotel to relax a bit and get ready for dinner. Back at our headquarters we made reservations for an off-the-beaten-path restaurant recommended in our guide. We left the hotel around 20:30 and decided to make the 30 minute walk to the restaurant. Along the way we saw a couple lesser-known points of interest: a fountain and an arch. The walk also included climbing a huge staircase, so we got a great view of Rome at night.
We didn't skimp on our last dinner in Italy. The place was called Antico Arco and it was decorated with modern furnishings and had a huge wine list. For our antipasti we enjoyed an onion flan and a filo pastry filled with buffalo mozzarella. After tasting the appetizers, we were excited about what was in store. We all had a pasta dish and then shared some meat dishes: grilled tenderloin, turbot fillet and a lamb shank. We passed the plates around all taking a bite so that everyone could have a taste. The food was delicious, the best meal we'd eaten so far.
After dinner we had the desire to check out some Roman nightlife. We walked through a little part of town called Trastevere, the same area we ate lunch in on Wednesday. It was Friday night so the streets were packed with local people hanging out at the bars. We ventured into a few of them and tried to act as Roman as we could. We stayed out until about 3:00 in the morning and then headed back to the hotel, just in time to get a few hours of shut-eye before we had to catch our flight in the morning.