The first stop on the tour was the Capitoline Hill, which is now a museum. It is perched on one of the seven hills that ancient Rome was built atop, and is quite beautiful. A pair of statues greet you on either side, and I swore that one of them was text messaging someone.
After a quick group photo, we were around this fine structure and made our way to the ruins of the Roman Forum. It was very impressive. As we rounded the building, ancient columns could be seen, and we eventually made our way to a spot overlooking the area. Our tour guide, Flavio, was adept at pointing out where the ancient temples and buildings were, as well as the history behind the area.
We walked through the Arch of Septimus Severus (much grander than any Arch of Triumph in France, according to Flavio) and marveled at the the amount of history we were walking through. Flavio pointed out the stones that we were stepping on were the original Roman road leading to the forum. Amazing.
We kept on, eventually making our way past the Temple of Ceasar, the ruins of the temple of the vestal virgins and many other sites until we worked our way down into the level of the Colliseum. It was as large as many stadiums we know in our current world, but much grander at the same time. It was funny to see men dressed up as gladiators posing with tourists for photos - for a mere 5 Euro. What a bargain!
Lots of tourists surrounded the place, and we were given 15 minutes before boarding the bus to head for the Pantheon. It was fun to circle the place to see people inside doing walking tours which we declined. Not enough time.
Even on our drive to the Pantheon, Flavio was able to point out numerous basilicas and ruins that were a part of the Roman landscape. This seems to be the coolest part about this city; everywhere you look, there's something beautiful and historic to see.
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