Left accommodation just after 10am. Took a while to find a place to buy a bus ticket. Buses were very full but when mine came along there was plenty of room. Found the place to leave my main bag for the day near the station, Roma Termini. Had trouble buying ticket for train to airport for later in the day. Found out there are 2 train companies. Everything else is linked together. Bus ticket lasts 100 minutes so used to take Metro to the Colosseum. I arrived there after midday and Colosseum ticket booked online was for 3pm. Plenty of time to see the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. But these were much bigger than I thought.
It is truly the old centre of Rome. Most of these Roman ruins are from the 1st to the 5th centuries. There is so much to see and you could spend all day here.
But after 2 ½ hours it was time for the Colosseum. Tried to get in a bit before my ticket time but told I had to wait. Once in there’s a one-way direction of visit. A great way to get a lot of people through in a short time. Crowded as the rest of Rome’s big sites but fantastic and great to finally see it.
The audio guide was good. Earthquake had damaged it in 1349 and later when falling into disrepair a lot of the stone and marble was used in buildings at the Vatican, the walls of Rome and other buildings.
Time to catch the Metro back to Roma Termini. The transport system would be great if everything worked. There was a long queue in a small area to buy Metro tickets from a dispensing machine. Signs saying you can just scan your credit card on the way in so gave up on the queue and tried that. Didn’t work but the person’s behind me used his card and we both went through. Other end is just a turnstile so no ticket required. Free trip because of system inadequacies. Last coins used on a hazelnut icecream, collected bag and onto the expres train to airport. Ticket checked on board which was fine but not for a young Australian across the isle. She had bought her ticket online but unfortunately had put in tomorrow’s date. She had paid the €14 but the conductor said an invalid ticket and had to buy a new one plus a €50 fine – total €64. She argued that was flying out so couldn’t use ticket tomorrow but had no choice but to pay. She was not happy. All went smoothly for me at the airport and Korean Air Left on time at 9:25pm. Now just the long flights home to cold and wet New Zealand.
Rick's travels 