Roaming Rome

Today we spent roaming Rome. We started out the day by roaming past the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Navona Square on our way to the Colosseum. At the Colosseum we used our Roma Pass and skipped right to the front of the line and got right in. Here we rented the audio guide so we could learn more about what we were seeing. I thought the Colosseum was interesting, but I had a hard time getting overly excited by it. I know, right now most people are saying “What? Huh?”. I think the reason the Colosseum and Rome in general has slightly underwhelmed me is because I was able to tour the ancient Roman city of Jerash in Jordan, which I thought was more amazing. Yes the Colosseum is bigger and maybe older than Jerash, but Jerash wasn’t packed with tourists or with people trying to sell you crap every few feet. Also in Jerash the amphitheaters (although smaller than the Colosseum) are more in tact. What I mean is that you can sit on the stadium seats, walk on the stage, etc. Rome is a big city that has rebuilt itself over and over, so trying to picture the way it once was is a little hard to do with the modern city surrounding it. Anyway, I digress and that is just my opinion. After leaving the Colosseum we tried to find information on where we could find a walking tour so we could learn something about everything we had been roaming by. Unfortunately most of the people walking by on tours were part of a bigger travel group and were considered private tours. We were getting a bit frustrated when Tom asked a tour guide from one of the tours going by where we could find such a tour and we were told by the McDonald’s by the Spanish Steps. So we decided to go find this McDonald’s and see what we could find out. Trying to find the McDonald’s was an interesting adventure in itself. We got to the general area where it should be and kept seeing signs that pointed to McDonald’s a minute away but couldn’t find the McDonald’s. Well silly us was looking for the famous yellow arches, but when we finally found it all the signage on the building was grey. I think we must have walked right by it. When we finally made it inside we found a tiny little card with information on the three tours they provide. All the tours are free and the licensed guides work on a tip only basis. Wish we knew that when we asked the tour we saw in progress! We would have joined them. Anyway they were going to have another tour at 5:00 of the City Centre. We went on this tour and was happy with the guide and information that we received. We basically walked past everything we had already seen, but this time actually learned something about it. I think we will be taking another tour through them again. So when the tour was complete we roamed up to St. Peter’s and the Vatican. Today (Saturday) we are planning on going inside. After a nice dinner at a restaurant the tour guide recommended we wondered back home. It was a long, sometimes frustrating day, but it all worked out.