Phew What a day! We started off by going on a guided tour of the Roman Forum & Colloseum - so glad we booked the tour as we skipped the HUGE queues! We saw the House of the Vestal Virgins, Arch of Septimus Severus (no - nothing to do with Harry Potter if like me you were wondering), Temple of Julius Caeser, Temple of Antonius Pius & Faustina, Arch of Constantine, & the Colloseum of course. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable, and it was fascinating to learn about it all. We met a really lovely young family from California on our tour, so after it was over we went on to see the Palatine Hill & Circus Maximus with them. By this point, we were all very hot and very hungry so we went to grab a bite to eat together. The conversation just kept flowing, so after lunch we went on to see the Pantheon with them and then they took us to the most delicious gelati shop EVER (and it didn't cost us an arm and a leg either!). We knew it would be good from halfway down the street as you could already see the crowds!
After a lot more chatting and some Facebook detail swapping, we said goodbye to our new friends and made our way to the Piazza Navona to check out all the crafts and artwork by local artists, and Bernini's fountain "The Four Rivers". After trying to keep hydrated in the sun all day and then seeing so much gushing water in the fountains - I was in desperate need of a pitstop so we stopped at a little corner pub for a drink. We then walked to the Victor Emmanuel Monument, then the Trevi fountain (where we did the customary coin toss hoping to return someday), and finally made our way to the Spanish steps (which interestingly enough are actually French). Needless to say, our feet were throbbing by this point and we had both received very very bad sock and watch tans so we made our way back to the hotel for a desperately needed shower and rest.