Rome, Italy 2018. Day 3 ~ Colosseum, Double Pizzas, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Double Desserts

Inside the famed Colosseum!

Day 3. Wed. Sept. 5, 2018:

On this third day of our Rome adventures, we hurriedly rushed out of the door again in order to make it to the breakfast place to grab our croissants and beverages and in order to catch our 10:30 a.m. reservation at the Colosseum.

At La Pasticceria Siciliana, I had the plain croissant this time followed with a caffe latte again. Ken followed suit with a plain croissant and espresso.

Quick breakfast at La Pasticceria Siciliana

Cipro metro station

We headed towards the Cipro metro line to take the subway to the Termini station. We learned how to purchase our one-way subway tickets (you have to make sure to have loose change since that’s what the machine accepts only) and luckily were able to purchase our tickets from a shop vendor at the station.

We rushed onto the train and then switched to the south line at Termini to get off at Colosseo station.

One-way metro tickets

We arrived at the station right before 10:30 a.m. and immediately could see the majestic Colosseum (Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM, Italy) when we exited the subway station. It was definitely a sight to behold! It was my first time here!

We queued ourselves in line and didn’t have to wait at all since we were part of the 10:30 a.m. crew to enter. I’m so glad that Ken organized the tickets and bought ours online, so we didn’t have to wait in line to get in. This made a huge difference to the smoothness of our trip! 😀

First glimpse of the Colosseum on the second floor

Once inside, we went through a metal detector. In fact, the women’s washroom was a longer wait than the actual line to get in! We also got our audio guides (so helpful because we learned about the sites as we walked around).

It was a hotter day today at 29 degrees with a bright sun, but there was no humidity and a beautiful breeze. It was a great day to be outside!

Amazing

How were they able to build this back in A.D. 70 to 80?!

Look at how tiny the people are in comparison

We spent ample time walking around the Colosseum and the gift shop before we headed out of the sun finally to get some shade.

Street full of tourist trap restaurants which we bypassed

Happiness dining at a window seat in Naumachia Ristorante

We walked out of the tourist trap restaurants area (as much as we could) before choosing Naumachia Ristorante for lunch. We were so lucky to be given a window seat facing the streets!

Click here to read about our super filling lunch.

After our double pizza lunch, we headed to the Roman Forum and surrounding architecture. Luckily, our tickets for the Colosseum covered the entrance for the Roman Forum too. It was fantastic. 😀

Unbelievable sights

The Roman Forum (Via della Salara Vecchia, 5/6, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) is not to be missed. It was like stepping back in time to see the grandeur of the Roman buildings, columns, arches, and more.

A book at the bookstore showed a before and after of these Roman buildings and the difference is startling yet fascinating. So many of the remaining buildings are just ghosts of what used to lay in the Roman civilization. It was amazing to walk through history and be surrounded by it all.

Arch of Titus

Can you spot me?

Hard to believe some of this is still standing after so many centuries

So many sculptures

Best view

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

😀

Selfie with this temple

This is how the current Roman Forum looks like

This is how the Roman Forum buildings used to look like. Wow!

After this, we headed towards the famed and much anticipated Trevi Fountain. We also passed by the Altare della Patria (Il Vittoriano) building and stopped in at the “McDonalds Trevi” before arriving at the fountain.

Altare della Patria (Il Vittoriano)

Peeking in through the gates

(The girls’ lineup at the McDs could have been shorter if some of the girls actually started lining up inside the single-stalled washroom instead of queuing up altogether outside since waiting for a single person to wash and do their business was such a waste of time.)

Anyway, we also tried the McToast! (Mozzarella cheese and ham in a toastie).

McToast

My first look at the Trevi Fountain

When approaching the Trevi Fountain (Piazza di Trevi, 00187 Roma RM, Italy), I was shocked and amazed with how large it really was. I wasn’t expecting it to be so gigantic! As was expected though, there were dozens of tourists and visitors all around the fountain, but it wasn’t impossible to navigate and certainly not busy like China-type crowds.

We got some photos and admired the magnificence of this famous Italian fountain. Oh, and we also threw coins over our shoulders for luck (and a wish).

It was bigger than I thought

Trajan’s Column

Dinner at Ristorante Sant’Andrea

We browsed the surrounding streets for souvenirs (picked up some stuff including a black truffle oil), saw Trajan’s Column, and then headed into a “trattoria” for dinner. This was called “Ristorante Sant’Andrea” and looked so chic and nice. We opted to sit inside tonight as opposed to their patio (which was great itself and had a live musician serenading the guests at one point of the night).

Read about the dinner where we discovered chicory here.

After dinner, it was the perfect time to revisit the Trevi Fountain again and see it at night this time. I received a travel tip from a friend that this fountain needs to be enjoyed both during the day and during the night so return to it we did.