Honeymoon {Rome Day 3}

We woke up bright and early on Monday morning....

....and wandered through the quiet Rome streets that were just waking up.

We ran into all kinds of folks out and about....

.....and hiked to the other side of the city....

.....past monuments and ruins....

....to our destination for the day, the Colosseum!

We booked a tour through Walks which I would highly recommend.  We were able to skip the lines {which were insane everywhere}, had a wonderful and knowledgeable tour guide, got special access to the Colosseum floor, and learned so much about the history of the Colosseum, the gladiators, and so much more.

The group was pretty small.....

.....and right off, we were on the floor which was so magnificent to experience.

Pictures do not do this place justice.....

...it is massive!

It was blue skies and hot heat.....

....but so worth it to take this tour and learn more about one of the most famous sites in Rome.

Such a wonderful experience!

After the Colosseum we headed over to Palatine Hill & The Forum....

.....and our guide surprised us with these epic unobstructed views of the Colosseum.  It was truly breathtaking!

Cutie husband :)

We wandered around Palatine Hill through the old gardens and homes....

....and had the most beautiful views of the forum and Colosseum {can you spot it in the distance}?

After the tour we were free to head down to the forum and wander around.

We checked out the sites and got a little lost.....

.....and as the sun got hotter and the crowds grew, we said goodbye to the forum and headed off to find some lunch.

I had heard about Mizio's Street Food from instagram and since it was nearby the Colosseum {an area not close to our hotel} we decide to give it a shot.

The sandwiches were simple yet delicious, and the lines were waaaayyyy shorter than the ones at the more popular places in town.  Definitely would recommend Mizio's if you're at the Colosseum!

Rome is so interesting in that as you're walking down the street, you look up and bam!  There's the Colosseum {or another insanely old structure}.  It's pretty spectacular.

We made our way back to our side of the city, stopping in old bookstores and shops along the way.

Of course by the afternoon it was spritz o'clock so we stopped at a random restaurant for cold spritzes and shade to cool us down.

We also couldn't go too long without gelato, so stopped at a recommended spot which wasn't our favorite of the trip but hit the spot midday.

After freshening up at the hotel we made our way along the river....

.....and crossed over to the other side to enjoy the sunset.

We stumbled upon the cutest public park where everyone was gathering after work and before dinner - parents were chatting while kids were kicking soccer balls and dogs were playing fetch - it was such a sweet moment of everyday life in Rome.

Amazing statues everywhere you turn.

The river was so calm and gorgeous and as we continued walking....

.....we ran right into St. Peter's Basilica!  We were saving that for the next day, but man is it impressive even from afar.

It was such a beautiful walk at sunset, just wandering around taking in the history and beauty of the city.

We made it back to our street and decided we needed something for dinner.....

....so we headed back to the same quiet street we were at the night before to try another restaurant, Osteria dei Cappellari.

I went with the cacio e pepe.....

.....and Christian got another carbonara, of course :)  They don't look like much, but they were delicious.

After dinner we headed back to the b&b, where the front desk guy had left us a bottle of prosecco to toast our honeymoon.  We watched more of The Talented Mr. Ripley and fell asleep exhausted from another long but great day!

xoxo,

stephanie marie