Yes, it hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit! We felt every degree. We’ve been in Rome since Thursday afternoon, and have managed to get out and explore every day, despite the heat. This is a wonderful city for just walking around, but it has been exceptionally hot this summer. Thankfully, there are water fountains all over the place.
We started out by wandering towards the Trevi Fountain (yes, I throw a coin in every time) and discovered the archaeological zone for the acquaduct. We have a reservation to see that tomorrow. We found gelato, of course, and then pizza.
Yesterday, we took an underground tour of a Roman villa that would was right across from Trajan’s Column. Very cool! After that, we took the Domus Aurea tour!!! I’ve wanted to see that since I first learned about it, almost 20 years ago. It was worth the wait, I’ll leave it at that. From there, we headed to the Campidoglio, and joined a Roma Sotterranea tour of the Insula Ara Coeli: the ancient remains of a 5-story apartment building. That was incredible! Roma Sotterranea is a local group of spelunkers that organizes underground tours all around Rome. I’ve been on their email list for years, but this is the first time I’ve been here to join them. I highly recommend them, if you’re here when they’re going out.
We found pizza in the Suburra, then walked down to look at the Forum at night, and randomly bought tickets for a ”Light and Sound Experience” in the Forum of Augustus. It was great! Kind of campy, but the information was accurate and, it’s The Forum Of Augustus!
Today we wound our way around to the Campo Dei Fiori market, strolled along the Tiber for a while, then found our way back to the Colosseum. We reserved a timed entry ticket and spent the afternoon revisiting the Palatine Hill and Forum. Overall, a very fun day. Very hot, but I didn’t really notice — I was absorbed in history.
Tomorrow, we have our acquaduct tour, then will try to visit the cat sanctuary in the old temple ruins near Torre Argentina. Then, more gelato…