Rome - Contiki Beginnings

July 1^st I checked out of my sketchy little hostel and made my way over to the Hotel Cicerone, a very luxurious hotel in Rome, close to Vatican City. This was my first night of my Contiki Tour.
I decided, since I was traveling alone, I would do a little 10 day organized tour so I could meet new people, stay at nice hotels, eat good food, and see places I haven’t been. Contiki is a tour company that organizes tours for people aged 18-35, and this particular tour that I was doing started in Rome and ended in Athens. I paid for the tour while back in Toronto and it included all my hotel accommodations in 4 star hotels, as well as all of my breakfasts and some of my dinners.
The route is shown below:

I signed up for a triple room (the cheapest option), which meant I had 2 roommates: Jessica and Jackie. They are both super nice and we got along really well.
The first night of the tour we all went out for dinner, and did a walking tour of Rome. We passed by all the sites I had already seen, but seeing them at night gave them a completely different, more magical look.
St. Peter’s Church:

The Pantheon:

The Trevi Fountain:

And since it was July 1^st, Canada Day, my roommate Jackie and I (both Canadians from Toronto) wore Canada Flag pins!

The next day, July 2^nd, after our very elegant and delicious buffet breakfast, we had an organized guided tour of the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Since only breakfast and dinner were included, I took a few croissants, nutella and jam from the buffet for my lunch.
The tour started at the Roman Forum, the ruins of the center of the Republic and Empire of the Roman civilization. It was the former location of the royal residency, and the central hub of the Roman people over 2000 years ago.
Many of the buildings have been destroyed in the past 2000 years, but mainly by the Italian people. The Colosseum and the Roman Forum were both used as quarries for rocks and marble. When building St. Peter’s Church, and other churches and palaces in Rome, material from the Colosseum and Forum were used, thus destroying these wonderful ancient masterpieces.
The Roman Forum:


We then made our way over to the Colosseum.

This time I actually entered the incredible ancient Roman amphitheatre!! It was originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the Flavian family. Constructed started in 72 AD, and took only 8 years to complete! It could seat about 50,000 to 70,000 spectators, and was the location of gladiator contests, public executions and animal hunts. There were approximately 500,000 people killed and over 1,000,000 animals killed during the contests and games held there.


After the Colosseum, I went in search of my old internet café, close to my old hostel. They only charged 1 Euro per hour there, while the new, luxurious, Contiki hotel I was staying at was charging 10 Euros per hour. I suppose that’s the only downside to staying at a nice hotel… the unaffordable internet!