When in Rome....

A flight from Bristol and long taxi ride brought us to our very nice 4th floor apartment 

.... 15 minutes walk from Foro Italica, the tennis complex for the Rome Masters tournament which starts tomorrow. 

On our first day in Rome, we headed to the biggest tourist magnet of them all in Rome - the Colosseum.  

We were amongst several hundred people all trying to get in at the same time.  Most of them were in organised groups with their guides.  We had individual tickets

As we entered, it was absolute mayhem with tightly packed crowds with pushing and shoving, which made for a very unpleasant start to our visit.  However, after about 20 minutes, we realised that all tickets are let in at 30 minute intervals. The guided groups were on a mission to get round, so we found ourselves in a quieter gap between groups.  So if ever you come to the Colosseum, take my advice, and wait for the guided groups to race ahead. You'll have a bit more peace to take in this magnificent structure and historical monument to the Roman way of life of 2,000 years ago.

It was very hot weather today, so we had to keep taking breaks in the shade.  

The visit to the Colosseum was followed by a stroll round The Forum. 

... packed with the remains of many ancient temples, and packed with people too. After an hour of walking round in the heat, we called it a day and went for a mid afternoon meal of lasagne and cold beer.  A 25 minute bus journey brought us back to the haven of our cool apartment, with views across the rooftops to St. Peters church.

The intention is to rest and chill out for the rest of the day before 2 days of watching tennis just down the road...