Up fairly early myself so went for a walk around. The thing that struck me was the amount of motorbikes or similar that we're used for traversing the city. There has also been very minimal police presence on the roads and pedestrians are not afforded the same etiquette as at home. I took a photo of one pizza place called Pizzeria Baffeto which for last two nights has had a line up of around thirty mts waiting to get in. It intrigued me a little so I asked one patron as to the reason why. Supposedly very good food and not expensive so for such a nondescript exterior as you'll see in photos it does very well. Being a little sick of walking and public transport not as good here we caught taxis to the colosseum and were fronted with an half hour wait to gain entrance. A couple tried to push in but I made sure we held our ground. On the sign on the way in it said no animals allowed - animal rights has taken over here as well i was hoping to see some action but no the do gooders - lucky they were not here a couple of centuries ago. The actual structure at its highest I would say would be about the height of the MCG and the lower heights about the height of old southern stand. At the highest point there are white stones which to the naked eye sit precariously. Really historical place and has stood the test of time obviously with some modern day renovations. The thing that struck me was the smoothness of the large stones stacked on top of each other. The jaded appearance bore no resemblance to the smooth texture when you run your hand over them.
I probably was a little more interested today than yesterday as the history behind this was more significant. Really impressed how they built these types of buildings so long ago. The best seat in the house was undoubtedly the white stone seat in the middle where you gave the thumbs up or down probably would have suited me.
Had lunch at a restaurant just over the road and the table was actually on the road. The waiter said if we didn't feel safe he could shift us but no we'd take the chance. A flower pot beside our table bore testament to the danger so close with the outside of it damaged. A bit of fun and food was excellent. After lunch went to the Palotino and Roman Forum. Basically all of this is an archaeology site with many ruins seemingly dug up over the years. The forum is in a state os disrepair and work is currently going on there. We walked over to Circus Maximus and i was a bit disappointed that it had been left and only now some renovations going on. The viewing areas either side still there with one higher than the other and the distinctive raised middle clearly visible. At a guess i would say it would be about 400 mts to each end and return. I looked for an honour roll to see what years Ben Hur won but they didnt have one. After that we walked to the fountain of Trevi which seemed a long way on the map and it did take awhile. After that Gabe Matthew and I went to the Spanish Steps which was further north and after a look got a cab back to apartment. Cabs are actually pretty cheap and have not been duded yet.
While we were Circus Maximus there was a gelato van there similar to a Mr Whippy and even those vans sell alcohol and people just wander around drinking bottles and cans of whatever.