Day 2 started way too early as boys were hyper before 6 this morning… thanks Jet lag!

But this did mean we were all ready to leave before 7:30 and could enjoy the city before it got crazy busy and crazy hot.

Today’s plan … entering the colosseum! We were all pretty excited… but as our ticket time slot meant we still had a couple of hours to kill. Our early morning stroll took us back to the Trevi fountain which had been absolutely packed yesterday…. Unfortunately today we couldn’t get any closer because it was cordened off while they cleared out the coins.

We did get a much better view and despite being far back, the boys wanted to try and throw a coin in. Middle man’s aim hit true, boy blue on the other hand missed by miles… so I guess we will be back again tomorrow to retry. Will it be 3rd time lucky?

Even with our visit to Trevi fountain we still found ourselves at the colosseum with 45mins to kill.

The number of people bustling about was crazy, I don’t remember it being so busy 15years ago. But maybe it was?! There certainly was more variety in tour groups passing by, small groups, big groups, so many different languages heard, tours in sign language, tours on bikes, golf buggies and even Segways. The boys particularly enjoyed surprising the Chinese speaking tour groups by talking in Mandarin.

Eventually it was our turn to enter and with the time slots it all ran very smoothly. Just a couple of mins later we had passed ticket check, security and even picked up the free tickets for the kids. In fact the longest line (no surprise really) was for the female toilet!!!!

Inside and under the cool of the iconic arches you could feel the history. Boy blue whispers “I can’t believe I’m standing in the same place as the romans”. Middle Man’s eyes wide open as he looked around.

We didn’t have a guide but enjoyed reading about all the levels of seating, building structures and history.

The miniature models were a hit with the boys allowing us all to visualise how it would have looked all those years ago. Seeing my teen and tween taking selfies in front of random things is new and a sign they are growing up. I can’t help but smile knowing they have inherited our love of travels and exploring the world.

We had a general ticket as the basement and attic tickets were crazy prices but actually it gave great views inside and out. There was plenty to do and see and actually after a couple of hours the boys were ready for a sit down and lunch.

The heat building we headed for some shade to continue people watching and eat some sandwiches.

Next stop was the Roman forum…. I have been maybe 3 or 4 times and I still can’t get over the size and scale of the archaeological excavations. You are literally tripping over Roman remains.

Despite the heat we explored for another couple of hours. The boys highlights were the fountains and underground tunnel areas. I loved the mosaic flooring and painted walls still visible in places.

Around 3 the sun and heat became too much and we headed back to the cool of our monastery. Via the gelato shop of course!