Rome - Forum, Palatine Hill, Rain

Our ticket for the Colosseum also got us entrance to the Forum and Palatine Hill. The Forum was the center of Roman life and politics in antiquity, and the Palatine adjacent to it was a rich residential district. We arrived pretty early in the morning to beat the crowds and followed the free Rick Steve's audio guide. We started at the Arc of Titus, came down to the Tomb of Julius Caesar (which still has flowers on it), and the house of the Vestal Virgins, and visited the Curia (Roman Senate building), among many other things. A fair bit of it is undergoing work.
Josh was disappointed at how cluttered it felt, but Mary thought it was fantastic.

From Rome

From Rome

From Rome

At this point, it was getting crowded and nearing lunchtime, so we headed up toward the Palatine Hill through the Nymphaeum of Rain and ate lunch.

From Rome

Up on the hill are great views out over the Roman Forum, and a walk through the tranquil gardens. Next we visited Augustus's house (recently excavated and containing some amazing frescoes).

From Rome

From Rome

Next up was the Emperor's (private) stadium. The matter of private stadiums reminds me of the stadium near Detroit that sold for something like $200,000 recently. You too could have owned your very own stadium. Oh well, that ship stadium has sailed.

From Rome

After that, we headed over to the Palatine museum. The bottom floor houses artifacts from the Palatine that predate the Romans. The upstairs has some nice sculpture. Best of all, it has a toilet. Finally, we walked through the cryptoportico (underground walkway), which sometimes has temporary exhibits, but not today. We took one last look over the forum, and then headed home for a breather.



Refreshed after around two hours in the hotel, we decided to head out to the Capitoline Museum. Since it's rush hour, we took the Metro, which didn't take us as close, but was out of traffic. By the time we ascended from the Colosseum Metro station, it was pouring down rain. Undeterred, we donned the rain jackets, but as we were approaching the museum, we realized that we're completely soaked. At least the parts that don't have rain jacket on them, and additionally, Mary's shoes are flooded (waterproof Gortex shoes don't do much for you when your soaked skirt is delivering massive quantities of water directly to your socks). We decided to put off the museum for a later date, and turned around to dry off, this time by bus (the bus stop was closer).