{adventures abroad} roma: day two - ancient rome

we woke up the next morning and hit our hotel's free breakfast buffet before heading out for our first full day in rome. naturally we got lost trying to find our bus stop, but a tiny woman who looked like something out of a disney fairy tale pointed us in the right direction. we took the crowded tourist bus to our first stop: the colosseum. which is incredible. obviously.

and just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we went next door to palatine hill and the roman forum. we were left absolutely speechless...

{palatine hill}

{temple of the vestal virgins}

{temple of saturn}

{arch of septimius severus}

when we finally forced ourselves to leave the forum {we could've stayed all day!}, we crossed the street to have a look at trajan's forum. we grabbed a snack from a street vendor and sat at the base of trajan's column, admiring the world's first shopping mall and marveling at the way all of these incredible bits of ancient history are mere steps away from each other and tucked right into this bustling modern city.

after our break we headed over to the victor emmanuel monument and capitoline hill. it was a good long walk and we were just a little late for the museums there, so we found a little restaurant and sat down for some dinner, drinks, and people-watching.

then, of course, because we are such party animals, it was gelato time {immediately followed by bed time}!

....and yes, we were visited once more by the creepy boom box lady.