Invalid request error occurred.Due to the amount of time we spent in Rome, and the amount of pictures I took on our trip (over 2000) this report will be heavy on the photo side. By the way, if you are looking at DSLR’s I strongly recommend the NIKON D7000….brilliant camera!

This Report is going to cover our Visit to The Colosseum, Palantine Hill and The Roman Forum. These parts of Rome are located adjacent to each other so I figured to focus on this part of Rome first. Most of this trip report will be photographs. I think in this case the pictures tell the story better than I ever could!

Our first full day in Rome, we decided to visit the “Trademark” Roman Sites. So our first stop was The Colosseum. What surprised me was the fact that its in a fairly busy part of the city and has one of Rome’s busiest streets pass right next to it. I’ve only ever seen the Colosseum in Photos or Television, so this put it in a different persective. I was also expecting it to be bigger, but thats just my preconceptions again.

Here is the Exterior:

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Walking Uphill Toward The Colosseum

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West Side of The Colosseum

We found out that all the “pock” marks in the Facade (the photo above) were mounting points for ornate stone and marble works. Apparently these pieces have been removed and are displayed in Museums throughout Rome. They were removed to safeguard them from theft.

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Street View

Other Exterior Images:

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One Of My Favorite Photo's I've Ever Taken.......

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Of Course The Ducks Wanted A Picture Taken......

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After standing in queue for 15 minutes and spending a few Euros, we were inside The Colosseum. The Interior was interesting. I was expecting to see more of an arena in the middle, the kind where you see Gladiators battling it out with Lions, etc. Fortunately it was not very busy, so the photo’s aren’t full of other tourists.

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After finishing up at the Colosseum, we went to visit the Palantine Hill Area. Palantine Hill is next to the Colosseum, and its main entrance is approximate 300-400 yards/metres from the Colosseum. Palantine over looks the Roman Forum on one side, and Circus Maximus on the other side.

Palantine Hill is though to have been the original home of the first Romans. Excavations at the site suggest that it had been inhabited as early as 1000 B.C. During the peak of the Roman Empire, Palantine served as a home for the most affleunt and powerful Romans. For more information on the history of Palantine Hill, you can click HERE to be taken to the Wikipedia site.

Here are a few pictures from Palantine. Some of the views were fantastic!!

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View of the Forum from Palantine Hill

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Another view from the top of Palantine Hill

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Typical structure found on Palantine Hill

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The last part of this trip report covers the Roman Forum. The Forum is placed in between Palantine Hill and The Colosseum and was home to ancient Rome’s most important government buildings during the years of the Roman Empire. Most of the ruins have been left in place, with many pillars, marble blocks, etc scattered throughout. Some temples and arches had survived, but most lay in ruin.

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Visiting these 3 parts of Rome is easy, and you can easily do it within a half day. Since their proximity to each other is so close, there’s no problem in getting around. The Forum was in my opinion the most interesting part since you were able to touch and feel the ruins. It was no problem to sit on a fallen column or other fragment from the ruin.

In my next “installment” I’ll cover more of what we did in Rome which included the Trevi Fountain, The Palladium and Trastevere (where we stayed) and a few other stops along the way.