Palatino

Day 4 dawned sunny and cold. We still really wanted to go back to The Forum to see the Palatino, or Palatine Hill. As before, we got distracted on the way there by a virtual reality experience and played tourist with our VR goggles for an hour. This was an area near The Forum and Coliseum called Circus Maximus where the Romans held chariot races within a vast stadium. With the goggles on you could see what it looked like and how it changed over the years. It was narrated and explained there were shops, latrines, brothels all underneath the stadium, just like at the Amway Arena!

It was sunny and 55 degrees by the time we walked to the Palatine. One area was still being excavated and is the place where Rome originated between 9th and 7th century BC. There are massive aqueducts featured in the top photo. Everywhere you looked you could see far off into the city.

We wandered the area for a couple hours, then headed further into the city. Just like home, a church was having a bake sale 🙂 We wondered if Sunday would be different with things closed like in Norway. In fact everything was open except this church which was holding mass.

The city was hopping with stores open late and people everywhere, shopping and dining, despite the chilly Sunday evening. I still needed a coat so we went to an area with many stores. At last I found just the one I wanted! Already it has changed the whole experience, as I both look better and feel warmer woo!

Dinner last night was a slice of pizza for Mike and arancini for me. Arancini is typically a fried rice ball filled with various stuff; mine had spaghetti and cheese, yum!

We are starting to make plans for moving on, which will be south towards Naples to visit Katie’s in-laws. But first, we have to return to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel…..standby!