Day 10: Florence to Rome

We were sad to say goodbye to Carla this morning; she has been such a wonderful host and has made us feel so at home. However, we were ready to leave Florence. After our relaxing visit in Monterosso, the crowds and street venders were a hard adjustment. We viewed Florence as a needed transition though from Monterosso to Rome. Carla warned us this morning to be very aware of our surroundings in Rome. "It is a big city," she explained, "and has suffered the consequences."

We said our goodbyes and walked about 30 minutes to the train station. Our train to Rome was our first high speed train; we're talking 248km/h. Our ears were popping the whole way, but it was a short hour and a half ride. We got a little lost when trying to find our hotel, even though it was just a block away from the train station. We've heard iffy things about the area near the train station (just to be very alert and aware of your surroundings), so we were all eyes and ears walking around. Our guesthouse seems nice inside though and we have our bathroom which is worth the walk to the sites.

We set out to get lunch and to buy our tickets to the Colosseum. We grabbed lunch at this cute urban restaurant, turned the corner and just like that we were standing in front of what seemed like miles of ruins. To our left, the coliseum, tall and demanding our attention. Directly in front of us was the Roman Foram, somewhat desolate and forgotten, yet with a beautiful aura about it. And to the right, on a hill, a gleaming white marble building with two bronze statues on top... Honestly, I'm still not sure what it is. 

We walked around the Colosseum for about an hour just soaking it all in. Before we walked around the Roman Forum, we grabbed gelato--the best we've had this far, might I add. The forum was really cool. It was Rome's busiest square back in the day. Words and photos can't do it justice! We ended the day with standing in line at the train station to buy our Pompeii tickets for Saturday! Long lines, but worth it for the discounted tickets we got! Tomorrow we're heading to the Vatacin!