Rome, Day Two - Palazzo del Quirinal, Piazza Venezia, The Colosseum & A whole lot of Seafood

Day two was definitely a longer and hotter day than the first, with many more sights on our lists to explore, we were ready for the day ahead. With our stomachs fuelled with the Italian cuisine of pastries, salami and cheese and of course your traditional cooked breakfast. What more could you ask for?!
The sun was once again shining high in the sky with a smile on its face, encouraging us for the day ahead.

Outside the Quirinal Palace
Our adventure of the day began with our hike to the colosseum, a short 40 minute walk from our hotel we decided to avoid the metro and make the most of the astonishing sights and tanning opportunities. Throughout our journey we passed many official and government buildings, unfortunately, it still frustrates me to this day that I do not know the purpose behind the buildings, but due to the maximum amount of security and guards around it was obvious they weren't tourist attractions! However one building I did come to terms with was the Palazzo del Quirinal (the Quirinal palace), one the of current official residences of the Italian President. It was fair to say that I was star struck and quite impressed of the scale of the building! I now know how people feel when
they come to London!

Soon enough the 40 minute hike flew by as we were soaking up the dazzling sunshine, and what was almost like a small village of monument stood in front of us, there were wonders to visit left, right and centre! We were only set to find the Colosseum,  whilst venturing for that we entered the Piazza
Altare dell Patria
Venezia,  the central hub of Rome. Within the centre, is the Altare dell Patria, a monument built to honour Victor Emmanuel, the first king of Italy. This building also holds the tomb of the 'Unknown Soldier', a tribute to all the unknown fallen soldiers in war. It was an impressively glorious structure to remember the noble. Surrounding this was Trajan's Forum, once a magnificent complex locating the Trajan's Column and Trajan's market, sadly as I did not inherit the history gene, Im not entirely sure of its purpose other than that it was built under the orders of Emperor Trajan! However the sights were phenomenal, as although what is left are ruins, you can still picture a once majestic complex. The sights went on for miles!
Trajan's Market
The Colosseum 
My favourite part of the Altare dell Patria was without doubt the atmosphere, I felt as if I had stepped into a travel book.With the sun shining on the historic structures, local citizens trying to earn small change by creating street entertainment for on goers, and the traditional musicians playing the lively music of Italy, encouraging anyone who stopped to watch and smile to get up and dance with them! Even i wanted to go over and tango as no one would judge! And of course what day would go amiss without the Italian market sellers using their flirtatious ways to entice you to buy the local cuisine, obviously I knew how to put my head down and refuse when appropriate but when offering freshly cut watermelon from the most vibrant fruit stall I'd ever seen how could I say no!?

The Colosseum was now high in my sights, we slowly joined the hustle and bustle who all had the same interest as our own. On our journey we had a short glimpse of the ruins of the Roman Forum,
Arch of Constantine
once holding the importance of government buildings. We were thrown in with tourists from around the world, hiking up towards the Colosseum, and let me tell you, the walk was definitely worth it as pictures from online do not justify the brilliance of this masterpiece. I was completely thrown by the scale of the amphitheatre and its grand architecture, what was once a gladiatorial entertainment complex, still holds its impressive beauty. Sadly, due the crazy amounts of people that filled the arena, the queue to enter the Colosseum was 2-3 hours long!! Er, no thank you, I was already melting in my lightest clothing possible, there is nothing worse than waiting around in the scorching heat whilst being pushed and possibly pick pocketed. So we opted out of entering but we didn't miss out on admiring the magnificent features. We toured ourselves around the structure, passing The Arch of Constantine on the way, I wasn't disappointed on missing
Santi Luca e Martina
out what was inside, as there was plenty to take in from the surroundings! Rome is just breathtaking.

They always say the walk home is always the hardest part, which to this day I still agree on, with a slight de tour to explore the Santi Luca e Martina, a hidden church located within Roman Forum (again another idyllic place to absorb the atmosphere), my feet were safe to say ready to drop off.
But it doesn't end there, as whilst planning our next evening meal we found our dream boat, a small but popular seafood restaurant, with fresh seafood (theres a shock) straight from the grill, my mouth is watering even with the thought of reminiscing. I went for the seafood risotto and whereas I thought I'd gone to heaven with food before, this was an ultimate level of food porn. Italy, you have outdone yourself with admirability, now you have outdone yourself with food satisfaction.

Until next time for day three, the final day x

Comments

Popular Posts