All my life, I've always somehow associated Rome with ONLY the Roman Ruins, and of course the Colosseum. No idea why that was the case, but my limited knowledge and exposure to anything European, more specifically, of Rome, meant that apart from the Trevi Fountain (from Lizzie McGuire) that was pretty much all I knew about the Romans (and of course that they had amazing churches). Seeing pictures of the different Ruins online, I just though they were random pieces of land preserved for tourists, to show people a part of the Roman history and time when they were in power (several centuries BC!!!). It was only when I was there, right IN the area that I realised how MASSIVE the entire plot of land was.
After visiting the Colosseum, we thought it was only natural that we head over to the archeological site and visit all the different roman ruins listed on the map. We were pretty much just walking around aimlessly because the site is so huge, and because ruins looked pretty much similar, we were just... kind of lost. I couldn't comprehend how people could spend only "a maximum of 2 hours" in the area.
The interesting thing with the roman ruins was the fact that they disintegrate in all sorts of ways, so much so it seemed as though some one deliberately destroyed it in a certain way. As though someone went "Come on lets just leave a few columns standing, keep the Roman Forum, and just well, demolish everything else."
We were planning to walk to the Roman Forum, and somehow ended up walking else where, up some random flight of cobbled stairs, and to a point with an aerial view of the entire site. From a higher level above ground, you really get to see a different view of the ancient ruins, as well as everything else in its vicinity.
I don't remember the name of this place that we were at, but the view was great. We didn't stay for long because a flock of birds came (seagulls perhaps? and 3 HUGE Crows) and since I'm not a huge fan of birds, I ran away.
From the bird's eye view - literally! - I thought that the whole plot of land was considered to be the Roman Ruins which included the roman forum, up to where I stood. I could be wrong, but when Jerald and I were somewhere above ground level, we were walking around stones and what looked to be like demolished buildings, I honestly thought EVERYTHING was just ruins.
And then, I saw something that really confused me. There were workers repairing what looked to be part of the roman ruins. Why? What for? Aren't they suppose to be RUINED?
That made me wonder if everything else were "repaired" as well. But of course we walked off and wandered in the general direction towards the actual Roman Forum, stopping along the way for some outfit shots! It was one of those days where the sun was bright, but the temperature wasn't too high, basically-perfect Italian weather. In fact, after walking for a couple of hours, I didn't need my coat at all!
WHAT I WOREAfter roaming around for a little bit, we came across garden with rabbits and whole bunch of orange trees. Of course we weren't the only ones interested in the oranges. There were probably about 30 others trying to knock/pluck one or two off each orange tree. The cool thing was, there were wooden sticks lying around and people were using them to hit the oranges off the tree! At that point, Jerald and I figured we still had time before the sun began to set, so we joined in with the fun. I've never plucked anything off a tree in my life, nor seen an orange tree for that matter (result of growing up in a cosmopolitan city!) so I was jumping up and down, indulging in my inner child.
Striped Top: H&M Men
Scarf: Primark
Bag: Thrifted
Boots: Timberland
I even made Jerald use his selfie stick to hit some of them oranges down.
After what seemed like an eternity of jumping and whacking, we pulled down 2 oranges! One of the guys we saw climbed up the tree, and was just plucking oranges and throwing them to his partner, my 2 oranges didn't feel like an achievement. It was so amusing! Anyway, I somehow thought the oranges would be sweet and ripe (how stupid!) but obviously, since we brutally plucked thenm off a tree, they weren't, and these pretty oranges were the most sour ones I've ever had in my life!
Following that failed attempt at securing a delicious fruit, we went on and FINALLY found our way down to the Roman Forum.
The view from the ground is so different from above. You could see all the different shapes of stones, and debris, I felt like I could be filming a scene from Lion King right at that moment.
Apart from that, I was just very intrigued by the different ruins and HOW the fact that the Roman Forum was still standing. EVER SINCE 7TH CENTURY BC (If I'm not wrong!)
Beside the different ruins, there were descriptions of what they used to be in the past. Different architecture buildings that were built near the Roman Forum, and how the area used to be heart of Ancient Rome.
Naturally, we roamed around the area till the sun went down and we got chased out. I don't think I read everything or went to each and every part of the site, but it was a very memorable day with various events that happened all whilst we were trying to find our way to the Roman Forum. I still have trouble imagining how things used to be in Ancient Rome. Of course with pictures on the web I have an idea of what it was like. But seeing this plot of land in the form of ruins, it does take quite a bit of imagination to think of how people use to live in the past. Not impossible, just a lot of story telling to myself in my head - something I kind of enjoy, truth be told!
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