La Dolce Vita, Roma in 3 hours

So, to continue my story, we met up with Tita Mildred, and walked over to the Ponte Lungo metro station and stopped at Lucio Sestio. From there, we walked over to her flat and took a few minutes to freshen up and relax.

Warning us that dinner was served late, tita Mildred served us her tiramisu, which I requested her to make :P It was just as I remembered it, creamy, slightly sweet, a perfect blend of coffee, mascarpone, cream and sponge cake... molto bene! We finished half before we headed out. Check out the pic on the right, Ria was the one behind the cam.

With renewed energy, we were ready to take on Rome. In my initial itinerary, we were scheduled to check out the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps on the first day. And visit the different Piazzas along the way. Unfortunately, we were told that there would be a huge rally the next day from 5 different sectors, that would occupy the areas around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, all the way to Circo Massimo. So, we had to squeeze in those locations into the itinerary.
First stop, the Colosseo...OMG...as soon as you get out of the metro station, you immediately see the imposing structure. For a bit history, and for those who are still unaware, the Colosseum is one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, and was host to thousands of bloody battles between gladiators and sometimes with wild animals. The Romans had a bloody taste in entertainment, and they couldn't get enough of those gladiator fights, were they literally held the life of the gladiator in their hands (thumbs actually), a thumbs up meant the gladiator could live to fight another day, and a thumbs down meant death.

You also get to see the Arch of Constantine from here... the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is actually modeled after this arch. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get in close to take pictures in detail. BTW, I want to note that I am not happy with the quality of pics that I took from my camera so some of the pics are from Ria's, Eis' and Marbi's cams. Some of my pics come out looking washed out and even yellowish (above)! Although I have no plans (or the budget) to replace my cam in the near future, so please pardon the pic quality.

We walked around and headed over to the entrance of the Foro Romano, but the entrance was already closed. So we had to make do with taking pictures of the ruins from outside. I think there was still much to see inside... but we didn't have time. I was hoping we could still see it the next day, but it depended on how big the 'rally' would be. Below is a pic of the Roman Forum from a distance. I'll upload more pics on my Facebook and Multiply albums.
Then, we headed to the Pantheon. Along the way, we stopped to take pictures of Piazza Venezia and the Victor Emmanuel II monument (Il Vittoriano).
The Pantheon is the best preserved building from Roman era, it's now used as a Catholic church, and among the illustrious dead buried here are Raphael the painter, and the first king of Italy Victor Emmanuel II. I am also uploading a video of the inside of the Pantheon, coz really pictures can not capture the beauty of the structure.

Then, we were on our way to Fontana de Trevi or simply, the Trevi fountain. One of the most recognizable landmarks in Rome, it's been featured in several movies including La dolce Vita and the Lizzie McGuire Movie. According to the myth, if you throw a coin into the fountain, it will ensure a return trip to Rome. The 'expanded' version of this myth, says that if you throw in one coin, you'll return to Rome, if you throw in 2, it will lead to a new romance, and if you throw in 3 coins, it will lead to marriage. :P Tempted as I was to throw in 6 coins into the fountain, I only threw in one, hehehe. :)

By this time, our feet were sore and we were tired...it's been a looong walk. Our last stop was the Spanish Steps. But we were so tired by then that we couldn't wait to ride the metro and go back to tita Mildred's flat, which we did after a few pics.
Back home, we still had to cook dinner. :) Tito Enrico was already home by this time, so while I helped in the kitchen, Marbi, Eis and Ria played charades with Tito Enrico as they tried to guess what he was saying since he spoke very little English. It's a good thing Tito Enrico is such a colorful character and he was so entertaining we immediately felt at ease.
The dinner consisted of, frutti de mare pasta, which is a seafood pasta, a salad with sweet vinegar and olive oil, Roast beef, salami dolce, sauteed mushrooms and for dessert, tiramisu and strawberries with orange juice and sugar, believe me this combination was perfect. We were all so very full by the time dinner was over. All in all, a good start to our Rome vacation.