It's the Roman Way

Before I get started on my day, I just wanted to point out that I beat my record for most number of steps today!

So to start off I would like to thank my little brother Mark for my post title :) We started our day off early again at 7:30 the magic time. We got to the Colosseum right when it opened at 9 in order to beat the crowd. Inside the Colosseum was a small exhibit on libraries in Rome in addition to well the Colosseum! The exhibit had different forms of the writing and influential people along with parts of various libraries. 

Bust of the Philosopher Democritus

Arch of Constantine

Arch of Constantine 

Arch of Titus

After the Colosseum we stopped to get breakfast (chocolate Croissant and Cappuccino) before heading to Capitoline Hill. Instead of Capitoline Hill, we found the Quirinale Palace. Still pretty and had some great views! We decided that we were not very good at reading these confusing Roman maps, so we decided to ask a police officer for directions. This proved a little difficult since we do not speak Italian and he did not speak English but after a few moments he told us that he spoke Spanish which was perfect because I do too! I was able to get the directions and get us up to Capitoline Hill! However once we got there the line to get into the museum was extremely long and it was not even free so we decided that we are just going to go tomorrow morning when it opens. 

View of the Vatican!

Palazzo della Consulta on the Piazza del Quirinale

Capitoline Hill

Statue of Marcus Aurelius 

From there we decided to check out the Italian Unification Museum where we saw relics from the various states and the tomb of the unknown soldiers. 

Tomb of the unknown soldiers

After the Unification Museum, it was almost time for our interactive tour through the ruins of an old Roman house. But before we did that it was a quick stop for some more Gelato and a peek into the Wax museum. 

The museum, if you can call it that was amazing. In the early 2000s the ruins of an old Roman home were found under some medieval ruins. This house would have belonged to a very wealthy family as it had its own private bath and gymnasium. The tour included audio and visual effects to explain what the house would have looked like, the function of different parts, what has been found, and even visual recreations of the various rooms with lights and projections. The house would have also had an amazing view of the Trajan column and temples surrounding it. 

View of the Column

Christmas tree that definitely was not there a few hours ago...

After the museum it was back up to the Vatican area to see the Castel Sant'angelo which houses relics of various saints. But of course when we got there the line was extremely long and it was to close in an hour so we decided to do some shopping instead! 

On our way back to our hostel area we stopped to get a snack, Nutella Crepes and Gelato!!

Instead of heading to the hostel we headed off to the Trevi Fountain. We got off the Metro at the Fountain of Triton. We then walked over to the Trevi Fountain but were a bit disappointed that the fountain was drained and scaffolding up the fountain but still pretty cool. 

After it was time for another pasta dinner before heading home for some sleep.