La Citta Eterna ~ Part V

The final post of my Rome adventure series *grins*.. I'm on a roll here! Never before have I posted 3 posts in a week, one every other day =)

For my final touring day in Rome city, we visited the remaining of the major attractions.. taking it easy throughout the day and lots of photos too.

First up is the Colosseum, going there for the day shots this time around:

these gladiators prefer posing for the camera than going to battles

Nearby, there was a souvenir stall with a machine that lets you make coins with images of the colosseum imprinted on it. Each costs 1 Euro and you have to supply a 2 cents coin for the image to be stamped onto.

insert coin and spin the wheel

voila!

Prior to the trip, we were told that it is cheaper to buy a ticket at the Palatine Hill entrance that allows for entry to the colosseum. So off to Palatine Hill we went, which took about 15 minutes.

an archway entrance

our Malaysian passports actually gave us a concession on the tickets!

Palatino aka Palatine Hill holds the location of the cave where the mythical founders of Rome, Remus and Romulus was saved and nursed by the she-wolf. Legend also has it that this is the place where Hercules defeated some monster.

The hill is packed with ruins, as there used to be palaces and temples built around the vast area.

the ascend begins

better preserved ones

this is as bad as it gets

a little refreshment

view of the city

Surrounding the ruins are lush greenery providing excellent background for some camwhoring:

More ruins along the way:

And the camwhoring continues:

love this shot

Ruins encore:

our hike is almost done with the colosseum in view

Moving on from Palatine, a brief stop by the Arch of Titus on the way to the Colosseum:

aw, a wedding photoshoot was in progress..

Next up, entering the Colosseum:

This is the view from two storeys up. I fully expect to see a flat ground forming the arena where gladiators face vicious beasts as depicted in the movies. However I was in for a surprise to see tunnel-like columns at the base.

Later, I found out those were called hypogeum and only little of the original floor remained.

and this is the view from the bottom

It was late afternoon after we were done with the Colosseum and Palatine, we then leisurely walked towards the Spanish Steps, passing by the Pantheon and decided to have a munch there with a light pour beginning to show.

Italian Mc Donalds!

nightfall was upon us by the time the rain stopped

We continued on to the Spanish Steps, enjoying night scene and christmas decors along the way:

view from atop the Spanish Steps

the Mercedes billboard ad was a total spoiler, sheesh

We did stay at a youth hostel during the trip. I had an enjoyable experience, the staff there was super friendly. Here's on the morning before we left:

that's Cat, she's nice

we were asked to write 'Merry Christmas' in malay since we're from Malaysia

Yup, so this is last of my Rome adventure.. Though we had minor setbacks and scares, it turned out really well and the whole experience was indeed fun and memorable.. If possible, I really wanna come back some time in the future XD

Once again, apologies for the delay in the posts, what a relief to finally finished it!