Rome Day 2 - Palatino

My second day in Rome (my first full day) was an absolute whirlwind of activity. I really tried to blitz the sites I wanted to see the most. Ever since I saw the ruins of Yuan Ming Yuan (Old Summer Palace) in China back in 2007 I've had ruin fever. Plus, my main interest in Rome was seeing the old archeological sites. I set out to visit the Coliseum, the Palatino, the Roman Forum, the Appian Way, and the Catacombs. I ended up also being able to fit in the Pantheon at night. Let's just say that at the end of the day my feet were absolutely killing me.

Since I had such a gigantic day I'm going to break my second day into different posts. First up... Coliseum! I've learned by now that when you visit a place go for the prize first, then see everything else. You never know when things will close due to some special event or whatever. There's nothing like going some place special and not being able to see what makes it special.

I got up bright and early and took the train from Termini to the Coliseum. I actually got there before the Coliseum opened giving me time to walk around it without the hoards of tourists and people hawking cheap goods.

Coliseum

Arco di Costantino

Of course when it was time for the Coliseum to open I was on the opposite side of the entrance and wandered around it wondering where the hell the entrance was. By the time I got there the line was already huge and not moving. Mind you, this is only a little after it opened, talk about frustrating.

Luckily I had done a little research ahead of time and knew that you could buy a combination ticket for the Coliseum and Palatino together at the Palatino just across from the Coliseum. With that ticket you can bypass the line at the Coliseum and zip in.

My combination ticket, student price... tee hee

I decided to head off and see the Palatino first. Here are my pictures from it.

Map of Palatino

Romulean Huts

Romulean Huts