Today our goal was simple, the Colosseum (tomorrow the Vatican).

We decided that as we only had one goal we didn't need an early start (thank God, I could finally sleep in).

After grabbing a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed out into the hot Roman sun (today was approximately 30 degrees). In spite of the heat none of us considered grabbing sunscreen, Teree and I tan well and rarely think about sunscreen (I know its bad) and our white friend Robyn wanted some colour (she got some, it was red). We hopped on the metro and got off at the Colosseo station. Teree and I had a bit of a chuckle as Robyn walked out of the metro, focusing on the ground in front of her, before finally realising she was standing face to face with the Colosseum (I know, it can be hard to see).

First stop of the day was the Roman Forum, where we saw the remnants of the ancient city centre. We learned about the many, many temples and the triumphant arches. Next stop was the Palentine (the ancient houses of the Roman emperors and other important families.

After a quick pizza lunch in the Jewish ghetto we headed to the Colosseum. It was magnificent. We toured the various levels, taking multiple pictures.

Having completed our task for the day, we felt we deserved a reward. As such, we headed through the Jewish ghetto (again) and crossed the river to Travestre, where we wandered the streets for snacks and shopping (a very good reward, I think). Travestre is the hip trendy part of the city, with many, many restaurants. Needless to say, dinner tonight (which was oxtail pasta and veal marsala) was fabulous.

Seeing as it was only 10pm, and we were on vacation in Rome we set out to find (i) gelato, and (ii) dessert wine. Both were found as we settled in for a few night caps by the Trevie Fountain.

After a few night caps each, we headed back to the hotel, finishing the day, again, relatively unscaved (there was the incident with someone and a banana peel on the sidewalk), in preparation of the Vatican tomorrow (that's a whole new country)....