Ahhh, this was the best morning of the trip: we slept in! However, the slower morning did result in fewer options still available for breakfast. But never-the-less, it was totally worth it!

After breakfast we started our day of Roman History Education. We began with a metro ride under Roma and emerged at the front gate of the Colosseum. To enter, we walked past the long lines, swiped our Roma Passes and walked right in! Once inside, we pulled out our Rick Steve’s audio guide and instantly became confused as it seems that the set up of the entrance has changed since the audio guide was recorded making it very difficult to follow along. After a bit of confusion and frustration, we gave up on the guide and started to explore and enjoy the scene on our own. The entire space is very humbling when you think about the ingenuity that it took to create the tunnels and pulley systems under the Colosseum floor as well as the stability of the multiple seating levels that are still visible. It’s hard to believe they used to flood the whole place to stage sea battles or raise scenery and beasts through the floor for elaborate game hunting. It was cool that they had reconstructed a portion to look like it might have hundreds of years ago.

From here, we explored the Arch of Constantine and meandered our way over to Palatine Hill.

Here we once again used our Roma Passes to skip the lines and zip inside without delay. Despite a really confusing map, we managed to wind our way through the ruins. We didn’t really know what we were looking at most of the time, so it was a little difficult to get excited about any of it; this is one of the few instances where I wish we would have had a formal guidebook to explain the sites.

Once at the top of the hill we had a great view of our next stop, the Forum. We had another audio tour that started us at the Arch of Titus. Just like the rest of the big arches, we weren’t actually able to walk underneath it. After the arch, we were lead down the right side to the Basilica of Constantine. This was one of the most impressive structures of Ancient Rome. The three remaining arches represent just a fraction of the original size and stature. These arches were once mirrored on the opposite side, with even larger arches spanning the space in between. It’s hard to get a feeling of the sheer size by looking at a picture, but being there was pretty awesome. Although there is little left of this once magnificent space, it is still easy to imagine the great baths, empirical meetings, and local counseling that once took place on this site.

From the Basilica we moved down the paths that were once traveled by Constantine, Caesar, and other Ancient Romans, past the green church doors (which we couldn’t find), and through to the far end of the Forum.  At this end, we could see the House of the Vestal Virgins, the Temple of Caesar, and the Temple of Saturn. By the time we made it this far we were both pretty pooped and ready to start the up hill trek back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner at a rooftop restaurant.

Before calling it quits for the night, we did a quick Skype session with Carson’s parents and eventually with Momma (Daddie was outside working on the car).

Finally… BEDTIME!!!!