We both wanted to visit the forum when in Rome. I also wanted to visit the Palatine hill, one of the original seven hills of Rome. Neither of us were sure we wanted to visit the Colosseum (we’ve been before), but all the tickets we could find for the forum also included access to the colosseum. So we decided to get tickets for the works.

Every site warns you to book online to avoid long queues. We’ve seen many long lines in the past few days, so we agreed that booking online made sense. We were set to pay when our bank insisted on sending a text to my mobile number to verify the transaction. That would have incurred significant roaming charges, so we cancelled the booking and decided we’d take our chances.

Yesterday, one of the secondary gates to the forum didn’t have any queue at all. We thought maybe it would be the same today, and we were right. We requested our tickets, and were informed that … the tickets were free today. Apparently it is the Festivita Nazionale, the Italian equivalent of remembrance day. For once the bank’s extra security measures saved us money.

Tickets in hand, we had immediate entry to the forum. This shot was taken just as we entered the forum. Note the clear blue sky.

And here is another one from yesterday, taken just outside the forum. It is a statue of Caesar.

A lot of what you see in the forum has been “reassembled” from the broken pieces found during excavation. But it is still impressive to see how well it has held up after two thousand years.

Here you can see one of the pieces still on the ground. It actually gives you a better view of the egg-shaped pieces that are part of the carving in the previous picture.

There is so much to see that it is difficult to do it justice. Here is one of several triumphal arches. It’s easy to see where Napoleon got his ideas for The Arc de Triomphe.

Here is a view of the engraving on the inside of three arch.

In the renaissance era, the forum was buried and covered by palaces and gardens owned by the Farnese family. Much of that was lost because of the excavations, but some has remained. Here is an intriguing fountain.

It isn’t obvious from the previous photo, but if you zoom in on the ferns, you can see that the water trickles down through the plants.

After we climbed to the top of the palatine hill, we were treated to stunning views. This shows the scope of the forum excavations.

From this vantage, you can also see the colosseum.

You have a good view of the city from here, and we spotted a tower that definitely looked like it was leaning. Not as much as the famous one in Pisa, but still… definitely leaning. I did a bit of research, and sure enough the Torre delle Milizie is leaning as a result of an earthquake in 1348. You’ll also notice that the top is somewhat irregular. After the earthquake, the top two floors were demolished because of earthquake damage.

And here is a view that we see a lot when we travel. Me, taking pictures, pictures, and more pictures.

One reason I wanted to visit the palatine hills was the green spaces we could see from the colosseum. Eventually we found quiet spaces we almost had to ourselves.

Jan spotted a bird that looked like a green parakeet so she took the opportunity to do a bit of research. Turns out there is parakeet found in Rome, although it isn’t originally native to here.

Our free tickets included access to the colosseum so after a brief rest, we headed over. Although we hadn’t originally planned to go inside, we were glad we did. As usual, we spent a lot of our time reading informative signs. For example, we learned that the stone is being cleaned (with pure water) to remove centuries of grime. This picture shows the before and after views.

One of the more interesting displays was a scale model of the colosseum constructed at the end of the eighteenth century. Fascinating.

And then, the real thing.

After our tour, we walked back to our hotel and passed an interesting tree. We saw it earlier in the week, and with a bit of research learned it is a strawberry tree, and that it has become a symbol of Italy. During Italian unification it was associated with the colours of the Italian flag: green leaves, red berries, and white flowers.

For dinner, we walked over to a local fish restaurant recommended by friends. It was packed, and an unpretentious experience – just good food. Note the rustic wine glasses. But the fish and the salad were both fabulous.