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| COLOSSEUM |
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| UNDER THE ARENA FLOOR |
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| VIEW OF COLOSSEUM FROM PALATINE HILL |
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| LOOKING WEST OVER ROME FROM PALATINE HILL |
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| CATCHING THE TRAIN TO ANZIO |
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| ANZIO BEACH |
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| MEMORIAL OF ANZIO LANDINGS |
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| DOG SHOW |
It was Rubi's birthday today, so we had to do something special. Well, one cannot come to Rome for the first time without visiting the Colosseum. Thus, following breakfast, we walked there by the most direct route along Via Alessandro Manzoni.
It is possible to pre-book tickets to go inside, but we chose to buy the tickets on the day. This turned out to be a good move as this was by far the shortest queue and we were inside within 20 minutes. As well as gladiatorial combat, the Colosseum was used to stage shows. Without seeing it for yourself, it is difficult to appreciate the complex workings of the lifts that raised scenery and animals from the underground spaces into the arena.
The Colosseum is huge and, apparently, it could accommodate between 40,000 and 70,000 people. Watching events here must have been a great day out for Roman citizens.
Our Colosseum ticket also entitled us to tour Palatine Hill, where Rome was founded, and the Roman Forum. This kept us occupied for the whole of the afternoon. It was fascinating to learn how the area developed over the time of the Roman Empire, with new buildings being constructed upon the foundations of old, and churches replacing temples as the Empire converted to Christianity. It was impossible not to appreciate just how advanced and sophisticated the Roman civilisation was.
After a full day we headed back to Romana Pousada, finding a very good value restaurant along the way where we enjoyed a pasta supper with wine. Just to complete the day, Roberta had left Rubi a flower and a birthday wish in our room.
On Saturday we decided to leave Rome and take the train to Anzio, about an hour's journey away. This little seaside town was the scene of momentous history being created in 1944 when Allied forces landed and established a bridgehead here in an attempt to drive the Germans out of Italy. Unsurprisingly, the waterfront buildings were devastated, but have now been rebuilt of course. The ensuing battles resulted in a stalemate which was costly in lives for both sides. In the town square was an exhibition of photographs taken to record these events 72 years ago.
Anzio had a glorious beach and we had intended to swim, but ended up watching a fascinating amateur dog show instead. It was particularly amusing to watch one of the organiser's dogs cock it's leg up against the competition judge's table.
We ate by Stazione Termini on our way back to our guest house. After taking a shower we chilled out on the balcony in our nightclothes, enjoying a glass of wine and watching Roman life below us.
Rubi had spotted a tall 'woman' hanging around the road opposite who we determined was a prostitute managing her business on-line using 'her' smartphone. I use apostrophes here because we later established that 'she' was actually a male transvestite.
Of greater concern was the screaming of a young girl as a black man successfully snatched her purse. We were too remote to help. Fortunately the girl was able to retain her car keys and drive off. However, we took it as a warning that we should take special care of our money, smartphones and passports.