On Thursday and Friday we went to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the surrounding area with many other ancient ruins. The ticketing is one for both locations, ticket good for two days, and that's how we did it. We're getting better -- but not great -- at moderating how much we do in a day. We tend to say, "Let's just take a look at that over there and then find lunch." As a result we keep ending up hungry for the first thing we can find, which is often not very good tourist restaurants.
We have ended up at a few good family places, including one in our neighborhood a couple nights ago known for its seafood. Longtime readers will remember that language confusion in Asia often resulted in way too much food being brought to my table, and that happened again here. In most places, the rhythm of when and how you order and get the next course and pay the bill is a mystery to me, though we usually get through it without incident. This time -- I guess it was family style and we ordered for two families? -- our table was groaning with plates. At what turned out to be the antipasti with several plates of cold meats and seafood, we were stuffed and said, "Surely there's not more. It's some weird thing were they bring all the courses at once." But, no, that was the antipasti and next was primi (pasta) and then, a new one for me, a primi part B (gnocci) before the main courses, which in my cases was a quarter chicken, a steak and a big piece of pork. Then came soda, a tower of fruit to pick from, lemon tortes and, finally, coffee.
The lines and crowds weren't bad at all in the ruins, and it was a lot of fun to see the Colosseum at fairly early in the morning. The views from the Palatine Hill over the Forum are beautiful, and it was fun to come across the Circus Maximus, which was much bigger than we imagined. You can walk down in the track there.
The last day and a half we've shifted from destinations and tickets to wandering neighborhoods. Today was Preti and window shopping at the department stores, longing for the nice clothes.
