Today was our first full day in Rome, and it was awesome. We got a taste of history, the local cuisine, and the local brew. The day started off late, since we didn't want to wake up at our originally planned 7:30 am. We ended up waking up around 9 am, and took our time getting out the door. 

We missed our cheap breakfast at the hotel, so our first thought when we got to the Colosseum was "Whoa! Ok now I'm really hungry." So we looked for a restaurant called Caffé dello Studente which was a couple blocks from the Colosseum. We ended up walking all the way around the Colosseum trying to get our bearings before we eventually found the place. This gave us a nice overview of the outside of the building, but because we were so hungry, we didn't really appreciate what was in front of us just yet. 

Once we got to the restaurant, we realized that we didnt' have any cash on us, and we found out that they didn't accept credit cards. So we walked down a bit closer to the Colosseum to another restaurant, called Oppio Grill and, although it was slightly expensive and I wasn't sure about the food initially, it was worth every penny. We got there around 11:30 and they had a 10€ brunch menu, which I ordered just in time at 11:50 am (that's how long it generally takes a waiter in Europe to get your order), while Sahna stuck with water and a Margherita Pizza. My brunch menu included an Italian espresso and I'm pretty sure I want to drink it the first thing in the morning for the rest of my life. It was delicious. At least that's what I got from the little I drank, since Sahna gulped down the rest of it, haha.

Next on my menu, was a delicious glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, another item on my menu that Sahna pretty much drank half of. (I let her drink the coffee and OJ because she was still feeling sick from yesterday. If she wasn't, I would have protected my food.) While we were working on the OJ, we got our platters of food and it was pretty good. I had cold cuts with cheese, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast in one dish, while Sahna devoured her Pizza. This was the first good breakfast menu I had since that quick Eurohotel breakfast that we had to rush through in Milan before the Last Supper.

After cleaning off our plates, we got a delicious dessert that had cookies and gelato with whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top. The entire menu was delicious. We should have taken pictures, but I think we were eating too quickly to even think about taking some. Once we satiated our appetites and were waiting for our bill, we noticed that the Colosseum was right in the middle of our view from our table.  Yeah, we really were that hungry. Regardless, when we looked at the Colosseum with full stomachs, we were truly wowed at the enormous structure surrounded by modern roads and busy cars. We paid our bill and then walked down towards the entrance of one of the Ancient Wonders of the World.

Like I mentioned before, we bought Roma Passes yesterday, which was a very good idea since we basically skipped extremely long ticket line and got in to see the Colosseum in under 3 minutes tops. We tried not to look too smug while we walked past all the suckers waiting in line. Get the Roma Pass when you go to Rome!

Anyways, we got inside and then wandered around the ground level. We opted not to get the audio guide because there were plenty of signs posted everywhere in English on the ground level (and even more on the second level) that had a lot of information on the structure and history, so we probably would have heard the same thing in the audioguides. We also had a lot of information from the Rick Steve's guidebook and picked up small tidbits walking next to tour guides who were explaining certain parts of the monument to their groups (sneaky, I know). 

The structure itself isn't in the greatest condition, as evidenced by the huge chunk of it famously missing. With some imagination, though, we could envision it in it's heyday, holding 50,000 bloodthirsty Romans watching a gladiator fight to the death with a wild beast. They are doing some amount of restoration work, including a section the big wooden floor that was the stage under which are the labyrinthian passageways that dominates the rest of the Colosseum floor (a sliver of the wooden floor can be seen behind Sahna's left shoulder in this picture). All in all though, It's a pretty awesome structure for being built so many years ago to the size of a lot of modern stadiums. 

So after spending a fair share of time marveling at the Colosseum, we headed back outside and walked towards the ruins of the Forum. 

But I'm sleepy so I'll update more later! Believe me, there is a lot more to talk about our day.

Update:

House of the Vestal Virgins

More about our day in Rome! After the Colosseum, we took Rick Steve's guided walk through the Roman Forum, walking on the same path that Julius Caesar walked on around 2000 years ago. It was filled with history, including the site at which Caesar was stabbed and cremated. We also saw the house of the Vestal Virgins and the Temple of Vesta. Lots of historical significance, which Sahna loved, and I appreciated for a bit, then got a bit bored of, as usual.

WATER

We then hiked up Palatine Hill and saw Casa de Augustus, Casa di Livia (Augustus' wife), and the Stadium of Domitian, among other things. The highlight for me, though, was drinking from one of the public water spouts, which seemed like a very bad idea when I first saw one, but I was thirsty like crazy. I couldn't wait to slurp down the surprisingly cool and refreshing water, and probably drank half a liter of it from the same fountain. Here's a picture. I looked like someone walking through the desert and getting water for the first time in days...

I was pretty pooped at this point, so I convinced Sahna to go back to our hostel and take a bit of a "technology" break - a.k.a. I got to use the laptop and the internet after an entire day of looking at ruins. Once we got back, Sahna convinced me to go out and see Rome by night after about an hour break, so we headed back out for round 2 of sightseeing in Rome.

Round 2 was a lot more fun, because we didn't just visit ruins that left stuff to the imagination. We first went to Trevi Fountain, which was an exquisite bit of architecture, and the fountain aspect added to its glory. The place was crowded as hell, but it was cool to see in the late evening. We managed to get a few pictures, but people kept getting in our pictures so we didn't get that one perfect picture of both of us with the entire fountain behind us. We did our best, though.

One of our few good pictures of the Trevi Fountain

Reading the tablecloth

We then used Rick Steves' guide to find ourselves a historic "birreria" (pub) called L'Antica Birreria Peroni, located a few blocks from the Trevi Fountain. The ambience of the place was awesome, with cool frescoes on the walls and a bustling atmosphere. We got very lucky and only had a 5 minute wait (the wait was probably an hour by the time we were done there). The place was originally a stable for the Roman Post, then a church, before becoming Rome's most famous pub in the early 1900s. The table cover had the entire history of the place printed on it, which was a cool way to spend our time waiting for our order. I had their famous Birra Peroni (exclusive to this pub), while Sahna went with the house white wine. Both were delicious, and only an indication to the deliciousness that lay ahead.

We started off with the most scrumptious bruschetta and tomatoes I've ever had. Until now, the best I had ever had was at 360 Uno Trattoria in Austin (two days before we left for Europe). Its reign on top didn't last long because the bruschetta al pomodoro here was so fresh and seasoned perfectly. The bread seemed like it had just been taken out of the oven, while the oregano and seasoning on the tomatoes were perfect. Our main course was even better. My pork chops were a thing of beauty once I told myself not to expect honey BBQ sauce that Sahna usually makes pork chops with. The meat was perfectly cooked, ridiculously juicy and easy to chew. Sahna's ravioli with ricotta and spinach was really good too (she liked it more than the pork chops...I disagreed). It was the first vegetarian dish we'd had in a while.We then finished off our drinks, paid for the meal, and walked out feeling good about life.

At Piazza Venezia in front of the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

We headed in the direction of the Colosseum again to see it at night. The walk there was a lot better than expected. We passed by the majestic Piazza Venezia, from which we had a great view of the Monument to Vittorio Emanuel II. The place wasn't crowded at all at 9 pm, and we took some great pictures. We continued our walk down towards the Colosseum, and finally saw it in all it's lit up glory. Pictures were tough to take, but I think we got a few pretty good ones. Aside from the difficulty taking pictures, we did take the time to just take in the majesty of the Colosseum lit up at night.

The Colosseum at night!

At this point, we were right next to the Colosseo metro station, which we took all the way back to the station next to our hostel. We felt really good about all the stuff we got to see today, and the fact that Sahna got me to do more even after I felt like calling it a day around 6 pm.

The day would have been a LOT more hectic without our awesome Roma Passes. They got us free rides on the metro, past the long lines at the Colosseum and Forum, and gave us the freedom to go back and forth from the hostel without worrying about spending too much. We'll probably use it again tomorrow at the National Museum of Rome, which will already make it cheaper than buying all these tickets individually, not even factoring in the convenience it afforded us. Awesome find by Sahna.

Tomorrow is another big day, as we get to see one of the only buildings that still depicts its original glory: the Pantheon. Stay tuned.