Rome, Italy - Day 3
Our second full day in Rome started out early with a couple mile walk from our hotel to the Colosseum to meet our tour guide for an 8:00 AM tour. Walking down around the Altare della Patria was quite interesting while Rome was preparing for a large military parade that would be on June 2nd. Later we met up with our friends and walked around Rome until our food tour later on in the evening.
For this tour, we used Viator as well and had a great time. We had an opportunity to reach the highest parts of the Colosseum called the Belvedere, the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. We first started with the Colosseum which was one of our most favorite places in Rome.
Next, we made our way to Palatine Hill which is one of the seven hills of Rome and where the past imperial palaces ruins are. This area is one of the most ancient areas in all of Rome where the hill looks down upon the Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, and the Colosseum.
Walking around the Roman Forum was incredible. To see all the layers of Rome from ancient times 2000 years ago to modern day it was surreal. One of the most interesting places in the forum was the Temple of Caesar where people come with offerings to Caesar still to this day. Here's a picture of what we saw that day.
Here are some shots of the ruins at the forum that have been excavated. As you can see the white columns in the sixth photo that has been identified as the oldest standing structure in all of Rome and is part of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.
In the afternoon we met up at Piazza Farnese for a food tour with our friends that just flew in for our cruise. The food tour we did was one from Viator that covered three areas within Rome to go. The first area we went to is the Jewish Ghetto. This area is very well known for its food and culture, but unfortunately, it was a holiday so we weren't able to experience it the way we'd hoped. We continued on to Campo de’ Fiori which wasn't very busy later in the day but still had several vendors out selling their goods. It was fun to walk around and check things out before making stops at Ruggeri and Antico Forno Roscioli for some food tastings. at Ruggeri we tried several cured types of meat and cheeses and at Antico Forno Roscioli we tried several types of pizza and had an Arancini which is a rice ball filled with mozzarella covered with bread crumbs and fried. Next, we crossed the Tiber river to Trastevere to meet up at the Trattoria Pizzeria da Gino alla Villetta where we sat down and learned how to toast with the house table wine... Saluté. For dinner, we had the option of an antipasto, a choice of pasta. I had the Cacio e Pepe which was great. After dinner, we, of course, had to stop for gelato at Fior di Luna Gelatoria. This was a good gelato, but we quickly learned where to get the best gelato in Rome which I'll cover in another post.
After an amazing food tour and dealing with a little rain we all decided to walk around Rome for the night. We hit all the good spots like the Pantheon and Trevi then up to the Piazza Navona and on to the Spanish Steps.
We headed back to the hotel to get some rest before our full day in Toscana the next day.
