Our Version of the “Caesar Shuffle”

Our second day in Rome was our first official sightseeing day…and what a day it was. The weather upon our departure from the hotel was gorgeous, meaning sunny and with only a slight breeze. By the time we reached our first destination, my jacket was untied and scarf loosened and Mark removed his jacket altogether. Those awesome 11 or so hours of sleep the night before left us both very refreshed and ready to start a full day of walking.

The Capitoline Hill was first on our list, and quiet breathtaking. Mark kept calling it Wedding Cake…Mark’s tour guide from Friday, Marco, said the Italians refer to it that way because of all the layers and “cake topper” of the horses. We enjoyed a self tour of the museum, and were able to get up to take pictures of many buildings around it, including the Colosseum. We did not go to the Musei Capitolini – the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit made the line way too long for my interest level. Don’t get me wrong, wonderful artist and all. But I have ALL of Rome sitting in front of me. Need I say more? Oh, and while we didn’t go in, I did get a picture of the Santa Maria in Aracoeli…glad I didn’t have to climb those stairs.

After trying to remember where all we were going to go today, we decided we should just head to the Colosseum for our next stop. We were discussing where to get a ticket, and having to backtrack to the Palatine Hill to get the ticket (so we didn’t have to wait in the horrendous line) when we were approached to take part in a tour. No, grazie. Then the wonderful conversation of “do you want to do a guided tour?”, “no, not really,” “why not?”, “because I don’t. Why do you?”, “Yeah, I think it would be fun” occurred before the next one could approach us (guess which one of us wanted to tour). So we say “Yes” and off we go to join a group for 32 euro.

That same 32 euro got us into the Palatine Hill and the Forum with a free guided tour. While we took lots of pictures, even a couple of our tour guides, and saw some amazing sites, the highlight of my day may just have been the conversation right after the one above with the person “hooking us up” with the tour. She asked us where we were from and Mark told her Minnesota, she said that she guessed he was American, but that if I had been walking alone she wouldn’t have approached me because I could pass for Italian. One of our previous conversations was that I was “in fashion” and he was not, and he was totally going to get made for an American while I could blend in. :) Ha ha ha…that chic made my DAY!

Lots of fun today…and lots of exercise. We must have walked at least 400 stairs today, each, and over 6 miles with all the to and fro inside the Forum and around the Colosseum. My calves are burning even though I am sitting on the bed with them up, relaxing while Mark takes a little snooze (priorities, I tell you…he sleeps, I blog). :)

It’s time to freshen up and go eat “supper”…at 8pm. I think this is crazy, by the way, for people to eat so late. But after all the walking, a light breakfast, a small snack with half a coke, three bites of a not so great chicken (or so the guy said) sandwich, and half another coke, I’m up for this. Besides, it’s lunch time back home.

Tomorrow will be a fun filled day of the Vatican tour and the Catacombs.

Arrivederci!

Ripa Hotel, in the "seedy" part of town