June 8, 2016. Major sights!

Wednesday the 8th of June, 2016. Another big BIG day of sight-seeing (other wise known as trying to kill Mike.) His left heel and the knees are not able to function without pain. I did give him all day Tuesday off. We only went out to eat once. Or twice.

About that "My pants still fit" comment. It was true. Even wearing my fat money belt with passport tucked in, I am still able to comfortably wear my slacks--even the white capris that tend to be a bit snug.

Our goal on this day was to see the Colosseum and Palatine Hill and Forum, or as much as possible. I spent a LOT of time on my tablet the night before, buying a ticket for a "Hop-on, Hop-off" tour bus ticket and a ticket for entrance into the Colosseum. Hours, I swear. I still hate shopping. I thought I had got the best deal, then realized I had not added correctly. Instead of a $10 savings, all my time and effort netted me a whopping $1 saving over buying a 2 day package together...but we didnt need two days. It got worse from there. Our Gravina rooms Hotel room might be nice now that the A/C is working, but there is never anyone at the reception desk. I wanted to print out the voucher for the things I'd purchased. Imhad her emailmaddress.  I e-mailed them to her. She did one, but not the other. And the one she did print was not one that was honored by the venue.  During the course of my shopping on Tues night, I swiped the screen attempting to get a screen shot. Well, Fat Fingers did something wrong, the purchase screen disappeared, it didnt ever go to the "print voucher" screen, and it ended up being a big mess. I tried buying them again, even though we did find the credit card went through on the first purchase, but bought the ticket again in hopes of getting a voucher printed... but an email never came, I never heard back from the front desk girl in response to my email, I accidentally sent one mesage about "please print" to one of his Mike's Iron County Home Builders Association officers ( 'iron', 'info' it was just too close and snagged both addresses) ...oh, it was a huge expensive hassel. We paid twice for EVERYTHING that day and are hoping we can square it with the credit card company when we get home. The websites clearly stated, " paper vouchers required" but it simply was not happening. For us. On that day.

However, we did find our "City Sights" big red bus, but only after a LOT of walking. You see, it was Papal audience day, roads were  closed, bus stops for HOHO tours were skipping our closest stop because of that. Poor Mike. It was another hard day for him. BUT the Colosseum, even though it was just from the outside (too many stairs, too much walking to get inside) was way cool to see and we did walk through the Palatine Hill area and through much of the Forum. We rode the HOHO (that's Hop On Hop Off) twice around the city when we were done at the Forum, and it varied a bit in places, so that was nice and relaxing and entertaining.

Supposedly those kinds of tours should help one get one's bearings. Ha!!! We were still so turned around and confused about which way was up that it wasn't even funny. We had to get back to our place, we did, and we just collapsed from exhaustion. All the photos are basically backwards. Sort of.

Just looking at all the old stuff layin' around all over the place. And right next to it are modern apartments! Well, sort of modern.

Interesting story about the lines gouged in the tops of those marble columns. They tried to SLICE through the columns a way long time ago ( to re-use the marble?) With ropes soaked in vinegar. It didnt quite work, though it did do that much damage to the columns.

Above is the palace ruins. It was huge. We did not take the time or energy to hike up to the top and look down over the Forum, but our bus ride did takenus past the other side...which may have been the front? It overlooked Circus Maximus, which I forgot to take a picture of.

Above is in the ancient Roman Forum. Below are some sights from our bus ride around the city.

This is totally out of order, but we were riding atop the bus, enjoying the shade, and the cobblestone streets, and all the lovely sites.

Those wicket stone paths. We are very grateful that neither of us twisted or broke an ankle.

Yep, tile floors (and tile setters!) Have been doing that fora long time.

Colosseum

Roman Forum still has archaeological digs going on. And pretty poppies.

Roman Forum

Tiber River

I left Mike sitting under the trees back there,  just down the street from the Vatican and close to San Angelos castle so I could figure out where to go for sure  to find our bus stop and save him having to walk around in circles.

We are hunting for our Hop On Hop Off bus stop. Lots of motor bikes parked all over.

A doggie water fountain! Not really, but a dog is getting a drink. These running faucets are all over the city of Rome and have pure drinking water running through them all the time. Very convenient on a hot summer day.

Back of the Palatine Hill. Pretty impressive stuff! Many stories tall.

Me to the shower first--so hot and sweaty, and Mike to a nap. I think we both napped a bit before going out later in the evening and getting gelato and a calazone.