Lazy Day!!

12 July 2004

Palatine Hill

We were exhausted today so decided to have a lazy day by getting on the hop on hop off buses...it costs 13 Euro, not a bad price but they stop quite early at 7pm, so get your ticket in the morning...The whole tour lasts appox 1 1/2 hours... there are long queues at the most popular stops! So be prepared to wait a while! We then got on the bus again and got off at the stops we were interested in...

Firstly we went to the colussem.... its an impressive building! But as i'd been told not as good as El Jem in Tunsia..... We walked around the area, got two bracelets made...a fella came up to Paddy and asked for his wee finger, without thinking he put it out and we ended up with two bracelets and 3 wishes for the bargain price of 2Euro .... I tried the same stunt later but he didn't hand over the 50Euro!

Rome

Then we went to Palatine Hill ruins and the Roman Forum ruins....brilliant area to walk around for free....we were so cheeky every time an English speaking tour group came round...we'd just sit really close and listen to all the factual info...for example the place where Ceasar was cremated, where the vestal virgins lived and their jobs (mainly to remain virgins), the history of the Forum, the temples and where the wealth of the city was kept....amazing stuff!! But remember not to look too interested in whats going on.... just sip your water and look exhausted...our cover has served us well!

On the bus tour it showed us the area where a HUGE arena once stood that could hold up to 300,000 people at any one time...... now its just a vast empty area but you could imagine the chariots racing around and the cheer of the crowds - amazing!