Today we got up early to try and beat the lines at the more popular Rome sights. We received a great tip by our hotel and we were able to purchase tickets for both Palatine Hill and the Colosseum at Palatine Hill, where there was no line at all! We walked around in the hot sun (thank goodness for serious SPF sunblock or we would be lobsters by now) and checked out the ruins of Ancient Rome. We either overlooked or walked through Circus Maximus, the Roman Forum, Constantine’s Arch, temples, houses, gardens, etc. We then proceeded to the Colosseum, where there was a ridiculously long line that we completely skipped. I think the line was about an hour or two wait, and we were able to walk right past then and go in. Yay!
We opted out of the audio tour because we are just sick and tired of those at this point! We enjoyed walking around the two levels of the Colosseum and I was amused at how similar our sports stadiums still are today. It’s pretty hard to improve on that design! By then it was the hot part of the day, so we cooled off in our room (there is only one channel in English, CNN, so I know way too much about the Madeline McCann case now) and then attempted to find a place for late lunch.
We walked a long ways to find a place called The Library that was supposed to serve afternoon tea, but they were closed, so we walked to a piazza nearby where we had a nice lunch (pasta, surprising, I know) and I had strawberry wine. The Piazza was full of those guys who stand perfectly still like statues until you give them money, which Andy gets a kick out of, so we watched some of those. There was a really neat one of a guy dressed as a business commuter, complete with his tie and jacket frozen in midair as though he was walking. He had his cell phone and briefcase, as well as sunglasses, and when people gave him money, all he would do was move his eyebrows. He drew quite a crowd, and it was especially funny when a REAL group of commuters walked past him without realizing what was going on.
We were close to the Pantheon, so we saw that, and then walked the long way back to our hotel (the metro only goes to certain parts of the city, so sometimes you have to walk a long ways to a station). There was a club nearby that was one of those bars made out of ice (very James Bond), but it was closed as well, so we instead decided to try out Chinese food, to see how different it would be in Italy than in the States. It was definitely different, as their sauces tasted an awful lot like marinara sauce, and they designed the menu to appear more like Italian meals, with antipasto plates and multiple courses. It wasn’t that great, but it was nice to have a break from pasta!
Here is a nice shot of our view during breakfast each morning:
The Adventures of Team Samuel 
