Alone in Rome part 1

 It's been a year since I was in Rome and coincidentally it was on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I only had one day to spend in the city so I wanted to pack in as much as I could during the twelve hours I had. With my knapsack on my back and my camera in hand, I set off to explore.

Flying to FCO airport right outside of Rome just in time to catch a spectacular sunrise that looked like fire emerging from behind the mountains. Too bad the picture does not do it justice.

After flying into Fiumicino Airport, I took a train straight into Rome. The ride takes about 30 minutes and cost me €14. Although there were cheaper options, that was just the easiest for me. Once I arrived at the Roma Termini station, I set out for my long day of exploration.

I wanted to start by the Forum and Colosseum. During the train ride I met a lovely lady who kindly described to me how to get to there, but somehow I ended up at the complete opposite end and didn't realize it until much later.

"Vittoriano"
A monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy.

Trajan's Forum with a victory column

Trajan's Column commemorating his victory in the Dacian wars

Trajan's Market

Trajan's Forum

My impression was that this was like a dumping ground, but filled ancient ruins instead! It seemed like it was all over the place. With the enormous amount of ruins throughout the city (and country) it makes sense that not everything is able to be excavated and made to look nice. In another sense, it was nice to see it like this in a more raw setting as if you really did come to a long abandoned area.

seen here are sections of Trajan's Forum, Augustus' Forum, and Nerva's Forum

It was time for me to make my way to the Colosseum. On the way, I bought a hop-on-hop-off city tour bus ticket. It was €15 for the entire day, but it may have been with a discount I was able to get. Normally I do not like to do the tour bus thing. However, I was not interested in walking all around the city especially since there was a very light rain/drizzle that morning.

The rain was really not a problem except for just a few minutes where I was able to step inside a tourist center. About 5 minutes later, I continued making my way toward the Colosseum which by then I realized was at the opposite end of where I started (although I still did not realize that I could have gone there by way of the Roman Forum and pass through the Arch of Titus.)

yet another ruin on my way to the Colosseum (Basilica di Massenzio)

Basilica di Massenzio and the Colosseum at the end of the road

The areas I first came to: Forum Di Traiano (Trajan's Forum) and Forum Di Augusto (Augustus' Forum)

The general area I first ended up in. Across the road is Caesar's Forum and the Roman Forum (only part is shown). The Roman Forum is where the Arch of Titus is. And of course, down the road, the large circular building is the Colosseum.

this was very interesting for me to see how Ancient Rome could have looked, a big contrast to today where its glory lays in vast Ruins

Alone in Rome part 2 here