The Colosseum

When you look at Rome on the map, with it's big ring road, you can be forgiven for wondering how it's going to go for you in a motorhome. The other big question is, 'hop on, hop off' bus, or walking. We'd learned a lesson in Barcelona with the tourist bus. They are OK but in reality, you're better off walking in Barcelona, much better. Would the same apply to Rome, or is it just too big?

We had our sights on an ACSI site that was inside the ring road but for the time we wanted to visit, there was a two week window where the ACSI card, and therefore the discount, didn't apply. We settled on a site with the unfortunate name of 'Camping Fabulous' It had the advantage of not being too far away from the airports, something we had to think about now Harry's' visit drawing to a close. 

We chose Camping Fabulous because of the good reviews and the fact that it was 100 metres from the bus stop, that would take us into Rome, well, to the Metro station to be precise. The train would then take us into Rome. I was still unsure as to how all this would work out but, there was only one way to find out!

The pitches at Fabulous are a reasonable size but covered with pine needles, of which I am not a fan. Still, beggars can't be choosers, as they say. The site itself is huge with a couple of outdoor pools, restaurant, supermarket, information centre, and a wonderfully helpful reception where they will load you up with information, sell you bus/metro tickets, even give you a complimentary map of Rome. Things were looking up!

Harry, the Yorkie was very much on the mend and we felt happy to leave him snoozing in the van for half a day, while we all did the tourist thing. The map, provided to us by reception, did a great job of showing us where all the places of interest were in Rome, and even which train line to use to get there.

The bus was great, running every half an hour or so, and would take us to the bus station which was conveniently located next to the metro station. We decided that our first port of call, had to be the Colosseum!

It couldn't have been easier, we got off the bus at the station and walked all of 5 yards into the metro station, and boarded the train. The map shows all the stops on the train line and someone even had the good sense to name the Colosseum stop, 'Colosseum!' Not hard really is it? We got off at the stop and as we exited the station to our delight and surprise, the Colosseum was right there in front of us. No searching for this prize.

As we were doing half a day to begin with, both in consideration of the dog, and to allow us to get a feel for how things were going to be, it was late afternoon when we arrived at the Colosseum. Plenty of people about, but no queue for tickets. Brilliant! We paid our 12 euros each for the ticket, which also included entry into the Roman Forum area.

The Colosseum is breathtaking up close. It seems to look down defiantly at everyone milling around, taking photos. If the walls could talk, I'd be more than happy to listen. Inside was no less grand. The norm seems to be to just stand and look, in silence. Trying to soak in the history of the place and wonder how things were in it's heyday. Then of course there's the taking of pictures, and why not. No sense in not having a visual record of your visit now is there? This was a great start to our stay in Rome. 

When we came out, we headed for the Roman Forum but not before stopping to marvel at the Arch of Constantine and taking a few more photos.
The Roman Forum is a bit of a strange one, in the sense that, you just produce your ticket to gain access then you are left to it. If ever a guided tour was called for, this was it but, there didn't appear to be anything on offer. It's a huge area and it's littered with broken columns, buildings and ruins.

In truth, we were content to just wander around, the same as everyone else, and read the occasional information plaque. Before we knew it, it was 7pm and they were not far off closing for the day. I really could have spent hours more in there, just marvelling at everything. We had noticed in the distance, standing tall above the surrounding buildings, the tops of something white that had, what looked like, winged horsemen atop of them. We were out of time for this particular day, it would be dark before we got back to the site as it was but, we were definitely going to have to return to find out what they were.