No hot water last night and now no hot water this morning. Well I'm not a morning person, as Jac will definately agree to, so when the water in the shower didn't get above 3degs I was out the door mumbling and ran into a cleaner. Thankfully he was helpful and sorted out our hot water. Unfortunately our heater wasn't working last night either and the bed broke so he agreed quite happily to us changing rooms. Everything now works and we are back to warmth and a stable bed.
So our first day in Rome. I really hope that there would be something to see. I'm sure there has got to be something to do. Damn straight there is. The mother of all the sights, the Colosseum, that's what! I can't tell you how excited I was on the 15 minute walk there. Like a kid going to the toy store I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Im an adult, I shouldn't be this giddy. This is just about the most exciting thing I have wanted to see on my travels and we were so close.
After walking through a small park we rounded a bend and there it was in all it's ancient glory. It was just as I imagined it, towering above the ground showing that it wasn't just a grand structure of 2000 years ago but one that was just as magnificent today.
We walked around the edge and headed towards the Palatine Hill where we could get tickets to the ruins and Colosseum without lining up. We then spent the next couple of hours wandering through Ancient Rome and just appreciating how amazing their civilization was. Wherever you look there are relics of a bygone era just lying around. The ruins, statues, pillars, plaques and buildings. It is hard to describe in a blog how it is seeing these things. Mind blowing is all I can come up with.
But then onto the main event. Back to the big arse stadium and some real wow time. Walking up to it you can appreciate what a feat of engineering this was. It really does tower over you and reminded us both of the MCG back home. To see it in it's prime filled with 70,000 spectators must of been a sight to behold, as long as you were not part of the entertainment. We spent 2 hours wandering in and out of every part we were allowed to just taking it in. I could spend all day there and then come back the next it is just that amazing. Eventually though it was time to move on and see the rest of the ruins. That didn't stop me turning around for the next few hours for another look at Colosseo.
As the sun started to go down we left Ancient Rome and found a cafe for some pizza and a chance to thaw out. The day was sunny but the wind like ice and it couldn't have been more than a couple of degrees. After filling up on pizza we made our way to Trevi Fountain and found where they like to keep most of their tourists. We pushed through and took some photos before making our way to The Pantheon for more shutterbug action.
With quite a list of things seen today we went for a bit of window shopping. Jac basically had all her clothes on today plus my jacket and still struggled so we have decided we need to part with the cash and buy her a big warm fluffy jacket that she can rug up in. Then we'll ship some clothes home so she can fit this in her pack. It has to be done as it's only going to get colder and enjoyment of the trip will disappear. So tomorrow we will do our research and find a good buy to get her through winter and get the fun levels back up. Then onto see something else. But after today we just know that we are not going to top it.