Roman Forums, Coliseum and Circus Maximus

Here are some more pictures of the Traiano Forums:We continued on into the Roman Forums, which start and end with the some amazing arches, seen behind me in the first picture below, and behind Mom and Dad in the second picture.We then descended into the forums themselves and became part of the massive crowds of tourists as we wandered through the ruins.We continued from the forums onto a promenade that leads to the Coliseum.Near the Coliseum is Constantine's Arch, seen in the background:We actually didn't go inside the Coliseum on Monday because the lineup was quite long. Instead, we returned on Tuesday morning before the lines had developed and went inside. I'm going to include those pictures here, though.Unfortunately, on Tuesday when we returned to the Coliseum, we were caught in a continuous stream of thunderstorms, complete with lighting, thunder and torrential downpours. We spent part of one shower inside the Coliseum in the lineup, and then all subsequent showers we found cover within the Coliseum hallways. This probably doubled our stay at the Coliseum, as we darted out once the rain stopped to see things and take pictures. I know, we sound like wimps, but keep in mind that the weather had been hot and dry before now and none of us had brought jackets along with us that morning. In addition, the rain was heavy, huge drops, and COLD! You were drenched in seconds if you went into it. Anyway, here is your typical Coliseum picture:The girls, inside the Coliseum looking out onto the street.Some marble blocks with letters carved in it, probably the name of a senator from back in the day.And Constantine's Arch again, from inside the Coliseum.After we left the Coliseum, we caved in and bought some crappy cheap umbrellas from street vendors for 3 euros.
The last site we visited on our tour of this region was the Circus Maximus, where chariot races used to occur. It was marked on the map similarly to other prominent sites, so we swung by on our return trip to my conference (since I had to go to some of my conference!). However, when we arrived, we were disappointed to find nothing but a large, dirty, littered field.That's me, wondering where the Circus Maximus is?

Finally, on Monday, I returned to the conference for the afternoon sessions and went to the poster session, before meeting up the family again to go out for dinner. That evening, while Amanda and Dad were resting, Mom and I went for a walk around the river and ended up finding this neat little piazza that contained numerous vendors selling jewellery and other crafts. Although we hadn't brought any money with us that evening, we made a note to come back another night and indeed brought Amanda back later to peruse the stands.