roamin' like a roman.

Our second day in Rome...well, it was jam-packed with sun, old ruins, good food, walking, and great experiences. Honestly, I've been putting off blogging about it because it's just overwhelming. My feet hurt SO badly by the time we got back to our hotel for the night (about 1:30 in the morning). Nonetheless, the day was spectacular and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.


1) Arch of Constantine

 

It was built in 312 A.D. to celebrate Constantine's victory in the Battle of Milivian Bridge. It was a monumental victory because due to this battle, Constantine became a convert to Christianity. After this conversion, persecution of the Christians ended and the building of Christiandom began.

2) The Colosseum

 The Colosseum was completed in 80 A.D. and could seat 55,000 people. Just walking around it kind of blew me away a bit. If you close your eyes, you can just imagine how loud it would have been back in the day. And then you can almost picture the spectators screaming and cheering, wild animals roaring, gladiators fighting--bloody, gory messes--and you open your eyes and you're back in 2011, surrounded by picture-taking tourists. It's a little weird. 

3) Palatine Hill

Roman mythology says Palatine Hill was the location of the cave where a she-wolf raised Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. It's also where some of the oldest Roman settlements are supposed to be. During the times of the Roman Republic, Palatine Hill was where the ruling class lived--quite a few Roman emperors had their palaces there. I just had to keep pinching myself and telling myself that I was walking around buildings that were over 2000 years old.

4) Roman Forum

The Roman Forum used to be the "downtown" of ancient Rome. It's where they all met to talk, shop, do business, politics, and other important things back in the day. The third picture is a wall painting in the temple of Romulus. There were quite a few temples, actually. It was hard for me to see what was what, but nonetheless, all the ruins were very impressive.

5) The Imperial Forums

The Imperial Forums are separate from the Roman Forums. The Imperial Forums were just a series of public squares/buildings that different emperors built between 46 BC and 113 AD. We couldn't walk among these ruins...we just walked along Via dei Fori Imperiali and saw what we could from the railing.

6) Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

It was built to honor Vittorio, who was the first king of a unified Italy. It was completed in 1935 and also holds the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. It was super pretty. We went inside and explored a little bit. There is an amazing view of Rome from the railing on the top of the building.

7) Piazza del Campidoglio

Michelangelo designed this plaza! It was beautiful. But honestly, Katelyn and I were so hungry by this point that we didn't hang around for very long. My legs were slightly shaky and Katelyn was starting to feel a little dizzy. It was kind of dumb to wait that long to eat, and we didn't do it again.

8) The Pantheon

The Pantheon was first built by Marcus Agrippa to be a temple for all the Roman gods. Although, it was completely destroyed, it was rebuilt in 126 AD by Emperor Hadrian. It is amazing that it's still so well-preserved. I kind of just walked around in awe the entire time.

9) Piazza di Pietra

This plaza was built by Emperor Hadrian in 144 AD. I remember walking across it and just feeling the heat radiating off the stones. It was ridiculous how hot it was. Which leads me to...

10) Giolitti's

 
Giolitti has been around since 1900. You know when Audrey Hepburn is eating her gelato in Roman Holiday? Well, it's from here. It's so delicious that Pope John Paul II used to have it delivered to him regularly. Furthermore, Katelyn and I just wanted to eat it all. the. time.



11) Spanish Steps

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck hung out on these stairs, no big deal. Yeah, right. I was secretly freaking out a little bit. It was finished in 1725, and supposedly, it's the widest staircase in Europe. It's beautiful.

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After the Spanish Steps, we were completely beat and the sun was merciless. We went back to our hostel for a much needed rest of an hour or two.

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We read good things about a restaurant called Da Alfredo & Ada, so that's where we headed out for dinner. It was one of the best decisions we've ever made. The food was incredible, but the environment was even better. There were two friendly old men who were waiters and it was just a very cozy place. An old guitar player/singer came to the restaurant and performed for a bit--and then the entire restaurant got into it--the guitar got passed around we were all singing and clapping and eating.So much fun.

spaghetti carbonara

We shared a table with an old Danish man named Petr. He was very talkative and ever so polite. He knew all the waiters and many other people in Rome. He could tell that Katelyn and I were just loving the restaurant and he said he would show us another place--a bar--that was very similar and that he would buy us a drink. I know that could sound very creepy, but he was completely harmless and very nice.

We got some kind of fruit drink without alcohol and enjoyed some good conversation about traveling around Europe, life, and culture. He explained how different cultures/countries worked and cracked the occasional joke. The weather, atmosphere, everything was just so perfect.

my yummy drink.

After that, we left to see Plaza Navona. The plaza itself is beautiful at night, but furthermore, it's where all the artists hang out. We watched a few artists at work, and then we were captivated by this artist. We watched her paint for a long time--and then we spent forever trying to decide what paintings we wanted to buy.

beautiful artwork.

By the time we left with paintings in hand and smiles on faces, it was after 12:30, and we had a long way to walk home. We got home, I showered, and then I pretty much collapsed on my bed from pure exhaustion.