Roman Ruins

We awoke yesterday morning to thunder and pouring rain but by the time we were ready to head off to the Colosseum the rain had eased to a fine drizzle. We ambled along the main street looking in the shop windows at all the interesting things on sale and then stopped alongside the Roman Forum to look at what was going on there. The rain started to fall again and we very stupidly ignored an umbrella salesman when he offered us umbrellas to buy. By the time we reached Constantine's Arch it was pouring again. Fortunately the queue to get in the Colosseum was not very long and it was undercover so we were fine. We also spent quite a bit of time inside the passageways so we were dry but when we wanted to have a look at the area in the centre it was so miserable. We ducked from archway to archway to try and keep as dry as possible but it really wasn't the nicest of visits.

We eventually gave up on the Colosseum and decided to go and have an early lunch to wait out the worst of the rain. The trouble was that there was nothing close by so we ended up buying an umbrella from a Middle Eastern salesman - one of many taking advantage of the weather to ply their wares. Under the shelter of our umbrella we found our way to a small cafe type restaurant and had a hot chocolate and a toasted panini each. The food was good but we did nearly walk out of the place because the service was really bad. While we were sitting there the sun broke through the clouds and the rain became a light drizzle again before stopping completely.

We made our way back to the Palatine and Roman Forum for the next part of our sight-seeing. This is the oldest part of the city. It was interesting but eventually both of us had a bit of "ruin fatigue".

From the Roman Forum we walked up to the Trevi Fountain to go and throw in our 50 cents and make a wish. We also decided to try out the ice-cream. It was nice ice-cream and we were very quietly sitting on the steps at the fountain licking away when some police came up to us and told us we were not allowed to eat our ice-cream near the fountain! No reason was given to us but I found an article on line that was posted on 9 October 2012 that states: "Last week the mayor of Rome instituted an executive order that makes stopping to eat or drink along anywhere in the city center — including the area around the first century A.D. Colosseum, the Roman Pantheon, the Baroque Trevi fountain and the 18th century Spanish Steps — an offense punishable by fines of up to $650. Mayor Giovanni Alemanno has had enough of “episodes in contrast with the most elementary norms of urban decorum,” the ordinance read. Rogue elements have “damaged monuments and artistic fountains (…) by dangerously dripping liquids” on them." (http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/09/rome-bans-food-and-drinks-in-bid-to-preserve-ancient-landmarks/#ixzz2KHwClb9W ) Thank goodness we just got a warning and not a fine!

From the Trevi Fountain we went to see the Spanish Steps.

Our final destination was the Pantheon. When we came out of the Pantheon we came across a guy dressed as a gladiator. He was one of these tourist traps that ask for money to take his photo but he was very funny and well worth the small amount of money he wanted.

 

The final photos for today come from the Piazza Navona which was on our route home.