Thanks to some good fortune Julie and Andy were in Italy for part of our stay and they were flying back to the UK on Tuesday which meant traveling back to Rome for their flight. We met up near the Colosseum in the morning and spent the day exploring the area along with the museums. It was a fascinating day with lots of time looking at the history of Rome and some fantastic archaeology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloseum
It was so hot again and the crowds were very large. We met next to the underground station by the Coloseum and spent a lot on a couple of cokes as we waited for Julie and Andy. Every couple of minutes hordes of visitors would pour out of the entrance to the station, leaders of troops identified by their flags and booming voices.
Once we got to the site proper, guides offered their services insistently and centurions offered to be photographed with us for just 5 euros! Everyone wants a bit of business.
We ended up avoiding going into the Coloseum given the queues and time we had available, and went into the site of the original city, the Palatine. It was just fantastic to be amongst all that history. You can't help but think of Caesar and the the emperors and the republic with its senators, the slaves, the gladiators etc and the fact that this small place had such a huge empire for so long.
We listened in on some of the guided tours as we went and were able to identify the forum where the senators met as well as the various arches under which the triumphant armies would return.
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