Another hot day. We slept in after the poor night of sleep, and then took the same bus back to the Coliseum. There, we had pizza and panini from a truck and then paid for a tour of the Coliseum and Forum. Neither tour was especially good, truth be told, but we were at least able to skip the lines.

The Colosseum had changed since I last saw it. In particular, they added a viewing platform and part of the arena floor which together gave you a pretty good sense for what the view of the action was like for folks sitting in the lower sections. Pretty good, about as good as a basketball game from the lower section, I’d say. Close enough to see the blood.

Phyllis was most struck, I think, by the fact that so many who fought there died, but I was more struck by the way the Coliseum had been allowed to fall into ruins despite being surrounded by people the entire time. According to our guide, after the fall of Rome, it was used as a market place and then a residence for destitue people.

It was a great place for pictures, though. I got lots of shots of the girls perched on marble pedestals and so on.

We then headed over to the Forum.  Like the last time I was there, I was struck by the fact that everything was just left exposed and open, laying on the ground for tourists to touch, sit on,  and probably chip off souvenirs from. Anywhere else, any random piece of actual roman ruin would be a valued, protected part of a museum, behind glass. But here, it’s all just left scattered about. Nor were there any signs or displays to tell you what you were looking at. You have to make allowances for cultural differences, of course, but still, it seemed like a case of poor management. I can’t understand why they dont do more with it, both to protect it and to ensure that people get more out of the experience. Right now, it’s just a giant field of beautiful old ruins.

At any rate, we climbed the hill out of the ruins up to a spot that overlooks them, and then slowly worked our way north through the city. We passed a pair of newlyweds taking pictures in front of a monument, and then Phyllis and the girls climbed a huge set of stairs leading up to a church.  We then made our way to the Trevi Fountains. They were packed with tourists, but we pushed our way in and got some pictures throwing coins in.

We then stopped for a nice dinner at another pasta place. Somebody next to us order a giant fish, which interested the girls. From there, we walked to the Piazza d’Espagna and sat on the steps watching the crowd for a while. I bought a can of beer from a vendor, and then got two small string bracelets for the girls.

From there, it was back to the room and to bed. But not to sleep. There was a live concert in the park across the street which lasted past midnight.