Rome: Day Three

This day of our Roman holiday was one of the most exciting; this was when we visited one of the 7 New Wonders of the World - the Colosseum! 

It was also the first day of the holiday that I felt completely back to normal again, having started a nasty cold on the first morning of the trip. So I was able to enjoy it even more!

We'd booked our Colosseum tickets for the late morning, which meant we could take things slowly in the early part of the day. We had a nice walk there from our hotel, passing by the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument, and some amazing Roman ruins.

Then at last, we arrived at the Colosseum! We had breakfast at a nearby café and then went to join the prebooked tickets queue.

We'd expected similar chaos to the Vatican Museums, if not worse, given that the Colosseum is the city's most famous attraction, but in fact, we got in there fairly quickly.

The Colosseum is the third Wonder of the World that I've visited, having been to both Machu Picchu and Christ the Redeemer in 2022. I was intrigued to see if it would be as incredible for me as the two South American Wonders were, and after going inside the arena, I can say that it definitely was!

It's amazing to think how long it's been there for, how well-preserved it is, and of course, how much gory history took place inside it all those years ago.

Seeing a gorgeous cat inside was also a nice bonus!

We spent quite a long time inside the arena, walking around its circumference and making sure we took it all in as much as we could.

Afterwards, we sat outside in the sunshine at a restaurant with great views of the Colosseum, and enjoyed yet more delicious pasta, as well as our first Aperol Spritz of the holiday - a nice treat after finally having been able to stop taking cold and flu medication!

The afternoon was a time for us to explore even more Roman history, as our Colosseum tickets also gave us access to the Forum and Palatine Hill.

On the Palatine Hill, you can find remnants of Roman palaces, as well as beautiful gardens. And of course the Forum needs no introduction: although a lot of the original structures have disappeared over time, what is left is still amazing to see.

These sites also had some great vantage points of the Colosseum.

After the site closed for the day, we walked over to the Circus Maximus, where they used to have chariot races in Roman times. This place is now a public park, which is free to walk around - quite nice, considering that many of the other tourist attractions in the city are expensive to visit.

Our next stop of the evening was the Tiber Island, another recommendation we took from the Voices of Bell'Italia podcast (the first recommendation being to try maritozzi!)

This island in the river looks like a pretty little Italian village and feels a world away from the rest of the city.

Other sights we saw later in the day included the Capitoline Hill, with its palazzi and great views of the Forum, and the Marcellus Theatre, which is like a mini Colosseum.

Our next day in Rome was also our last full day in the city, so we needed to make the most of it, and I think we did just that! Places we visited included Largo di Torre Argentina, the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument, la Bocca della Verità, and Castel Sant'Angelo. I'll be writing about all that and more as soon as possible!