Palatine Hill - Forum - Colosseum

Our first full day in Rome we went on a tour from 12:00 to 5:00p.  We had originally scheduled our tour of these locations for that night, after hours, however received an email from the tour company the day before stating that they weren't able to fulfill our (paid for) reservations and could we come the next day or earlier.  We declined and started the search again.  We are glad we did.  We ended up with a fabulous tour guide and while we were out in the heat of the day which we initially tried to avoid, it was do-able.  it is, after all, October.

To get to the starting point of our tour, we first took the metro to the Colosseo stop.  Here's the view when you top the stairs and walk out of the station:

As will be a theme for the next few days, the photo doesn't do it justice. It is SO large.  I mean, jaw dropping, amazingly large.  

We navigated to our meet-up and met our guide who was amazing!  Our tour began with Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.  These weren't actually on our plan for the trip, but we are so glad we didn't end up missing them.  Palatine Hill is the first hill of ancient Rome where development began and is covered in ancient buildings and ruins.  

Here is Wifey with the Arch of Titus.  This Arch celebrates the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the enslavement of the Jewish people.  Which, of course, Jesus prophesied before it occurred. 

This is an old pagan temple which was then converted into a church after attempts to tear it down failed.  You can see on the upper portions of the columns lines where the attempt was made, causing damage.  

This window is part of Rome's City Hall.  It was designed by Michelangelo.  This window, specifically, is the Mayer's office and balcony. 

After Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum (they're practically co-located); we took a lunch break before meeting back up for our Colosseum tour! Sadly, Wifey had developed a headache, so had some strong opinions for lunch - fast decision and as much time chilling as possible.  Her priority was a break, not the best lunch ever.  

Down a small road from the Colosseum we found this Pizza joint: La Prezzemolina!  It looked overly crowded when we arrived, but Wifey just needed to stop.  The cartoon piece of pizza sold her to be honest. 

We learned here that pizza in Rome is sometimes sold and priced by the gram.  

"Pizza" - 2.5 EU/100g

Margherita Pizza - 1.8EU per 100 gram

After we made our selections; the clerk literally used scissors to cut of as large of a piece of pizza as we wanted and then weighed it for pricing.  Our chosen slices came out looking amazing:

Lasagna

 We ended up joining another couple at their table since this was the only option for seating in the tiny little restaurant.  They left a bit later, giving us a whole table to ourselves.

Next, was our tour of the Colosseum!  To be honest, it wasn't as good as Palatine Hill and the Forum.  So many tourists.  And the view of the Colosseum is really more impressive from the Metro exit.  

Graffiti was a think even in Jesus' time!  

The engineering that allowed the shows to be presented at the Colosseum was astonishing.  There were 50+ trap doors that moved people and animals and set pieces from the 'backstage' (below the ground) onto the arena floor.