Colosseo Maybe?

Hunter and I got up bright and early at 7am and headed to the Colosseum. We were going to get in line to try and get some of the same day entry tickets. As the bus we were taking approached the area, we were met with blocked roads and all sorts of military people. Upon investigation, we learned that today was Republic Day, similar to Canada Day and Fourth of July back home. The bus driver did manage to get us pretty close to the area and we eventually found our way to the Colosseum. We were trying to walk around to where the entrance was supposed to be, but the roads were blocked off with tons of police/military people making sure no one crossed into the road. I managed to ask one of them how to get to the Colosseum and they informed us it was closed until 3pm. So plan A was busted.

We instead decided to just wander around the area and see what other things we could do today as many things were on odd hours. As we were walking we did manage to see the start of the parade, which included a drive by of the president who serves as a prime minister. We also saw their famous
Frecce Tricolori demonstration where they fly Aermacchi NB339 planes over the Altar of the Father Land leaving smoke in Italy's colours. It was super cool.

Colosseum

The smoke trails left from the planes

The president/ prime minister

Different forces

Altar of the Father Land

We then headed towards Campo de' Fiori, a popular market selling fruit, vegetables & general goods. We walked around some and became hungry. We had also asked our AirBnB host about markets that sell cheap good clothing and she suggested Portaprotese near Piazza Ippoliti Nievo. We decided to go that area because I wanted to look for better clothes for hot weather (as I had packed for Northern Europe) and figured we would find somewhere there to eat. We walked around the whole market, and I purchased a 10 euro dress I liked. We also saw some people get in a fistfight. We did not find food here, but instead when back to the area we came from and went to a Jewish burger place called Fonzie the Burger's House. It had the best fries ever. Hunter and I got the same burger and fries to share.

We passed by the Pantheon again

Portaprotese market

Cool old luggage at the market 

Painting outside of the burger place we ate at

FOOD!

After eating, Hunter and I headed back to the AirBnB for a small nap while we waited till 3pm to try and get tickets for the Colosseum. We woke up and quickly headed out as it was already 3pm. We got to the entrance at Palatine Hill, only to find out tickets for the Colosseum were sold out. I was greatly disappointed. We contemplated buying the ticket they had to offer for 16 euros each that provided access to Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and some of their temporary exhibits, but decided against it as many people said that those activities were kinda boring and we really just wanted to go into the Colosseum. We instead walked around the outside of the Colosseum and found awesome places to take pictures. We could also see some of the ruins and their information signs from walking around, so that was nice.

Supreme court near our AirBnB

Wide shot!

We then went Pizzeria Luzzi two blocks away for dinner. Hunter and I had the same pizzas and only afterward thought we should have ordered a pasta dish. Somehow we managed to spend 3 days in Rome and not eat a single pasta dish, but man oh man did we eat some pizza.

We went back to the Colosseum as it was approaching sunset and managed to get some AMAZING photos.

Totally amazing shot Hunter managed to capture

  

After getting our pretty pictures, we headed back to our AirBnB. Somehow it was already after 9pm and we needed to get a good night's rest and pack as we were leaving tomorrow evening and had a special tour planned for the morning.

Date: June 2nd, 2019