What an incredibly full day! We began by meeting our private tour guide, Tosca Perotti, at our hoteKudos to my friend, Patty, who through her sister, Connie, gave me the lead. What a gem! Off we went at a good clip down the hill from the hotel the mile to reach the Colosseum. There’s nothing to compare to turning around the corner and seeing it there – better than any picture. And the rain abated and gave us glorious sun! But what an insane situation with all the other tourists….we were thanking our lucky stars that we had her to navigate through the maze of people and check points. Once inside we were allowed to explore the underground sections that were surprisingly built after the upper portion. We could view the devises used to bring the animals and gladiators up from below before the days of elevators. Then we were able to walk around the entire upper area on the main level where guests would view the spectacles. I was surprised to learn about the training that the gladiators received and that they weren’t regularly put to death. From there, Tosca continued the tour taking us through the Forum, Palatine Hill and Circus Maximus. What an amazing history lesson we received as we moved from one site to the next. Toward the end she showed us where Julius Caesar was buried. And of course they mark the occasion on my birthday.

Once we said farewell to Tosca, we followed her directions and headed off to the Pantheon, where fortunately she had booked a reservation for us. The plaza was swarming with people and they posted that there were no further entries, so we lucked out. How amazing to see that dome that has survived for so many centuries with such clever architecture. The hole in the ceiling made it bright and beautiful.

Nearby was Plaza Navona, which was a major clog of people but we could admire the statue of Neptune. After that we were about done in so we headed back to the hotel. Along the way we stopped for our first gelato. When I was planning this trip one thing I asked them all was “what is the one thing you’d want to do while on this trip”. And having gelato every day was what Gulgun wanted, so we’re ahead of the game.

Along the way home we stopped at a church along the way, San Pietro in Vincoli, that Tosca mentioned, that had a sculpture by Michelangelo of Moses. It was something she said most people miss.

And now we are vegging out with wine at the hotel bar, awaiting where we’ll head to dinner. As an “oh, by the way, last night’s was at Nerone, and it was fabulous. Tonight’s was Buca Romana – equally delightful end with live music.

On the short walk home we came upon a remarkable fountain. There we found a group of young men who asked us to take their picture, which of CV course we did. They returned the favor.