Before we started exploring Rome on our first full day in Italy, we had to go try an Italian cappuccino. After a quick search, I found one within walking distance (actually, a lot of places were within walking distance!)
Once we arrived and figured out where to order our cappuccino and pastry, we waited at the coffee bar for our order. Seating in this cafe was extra, so just enjoyed our first breakfast standing up.
This was amazing!! I could get used to having this for breakfast every day!
Now before I write much more, I have to warn you that these Italy posts will be photo heavy. I did take my Nikon DSLR, but honestly, it was so much easier to just capture images with my iPhone.
After we finished our breakfast, we attempted to get an Uber to take us over to the Colosseum. Let me just say, our GPS did not work very well while we were over there. So we didn't find the spot where we needed to get the Uber. We ended up just catching a taxi to help cut down on the amount of walking we would be doing.
We did not purchase tickets ahead of time, so we stood in line to enter Palatine Hill first.
I loved seeing excavation work going on at Palatine Hill. I wonder how many items they still find in the area.
All of the signs had Italian and English. Do you see the dates on this sign?
It is incredible how many structures are still standing in this area from almost 2000 years ago!
After spending quite a bit of time walking around Palatine Hill, we made it over to the line to enter The Colosseum. The sheer size of this building is overwhelming!
I tried to photograph some of the less photographed things I found while walking around inside The Colosseum.
How many hearts do you see in this wall?
We even had someone take our photo!
By this time, it had been quite a few hours since our cappuccino and croissant.
I don't even remember all that we ordered for lunch, which is why photos from almost six months ago are helpful! But I do know, since it was a bit cold outside, we did have another cappuccino.
After we finished lunch, we started walking toward The Pantheon.
We walked by the Imperial Forum. Some of these walls and columns were constructed before Jesus was born!
The Pantheon is one of the buildings I did not want to miss on our trip.
This was my best attempt to capture the inside of The Pantheon. It is mind blowing to think how they constructed the inside of the dome and this building!
As you can see, many of the streets in Rome are quite narrow and nothing like the modern streets we have in the United States.
Many of the churches in Rome are open to the public. I recommend walking inside a few of them to admire the elaborate details.
We have heard that most people who travel to Rome, stop by Trevi Fountain to throw in a coin. Apparently, if you do this, you are guaranteed a return trip to Italy...that is if you believe in that kind of stuff.
Did we throw in a coin? You bet we did! We had to do what all of the other tourists do!
By this time, after walking who knows how many miles, it was time to find a place for dinner.
We decided to give this place a try...
...because they had homemade gnocchi on the menu!
Because we did so much walking, we ordered tiramisu for dessert, yum!
Probably the strangest thing we saw on this day was these Unicorn Fruit Loops in the market. Too bad we didn't have room in our luggage to bring a box or two of these home!
Have you ever been to Rome? What is the strangest thing you have ever seen while out of the country?
Stay tuned...day three of our trip will be coming soon!