Colosseum and Wandering Around Rome

I still have a few things I want to share about my stay in Croatia, but before I get too far behind, I'm going to write about Rome.

The first day there, I went to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain (closed for cleaning), the Pantheon, and a cat sanctuary that I stumbled upon! I also went into a large number of churches, so many that they started to blur together. None of them were as splendid as St. Peter's Basilica, so I'll leave the pictures out for now.

Everywhere was ridiculously crowded, but I had a good time anyway. Also, tons of people were wearing fedoras (sold by Indians on the street).

First glimpse of the Colosseum

On the inside

I take a picture of you, you take a picture of me.

Another view

The basement

Last time from the outside

Triumphal arch in the Roman Forum

Ruins on Palatine Hill

A garden on Palatine Hill

 The cat sanctuary might have been my favorite part of my first day in Rome. They have over 200 cats there, some of which are up for adoption. Other disabled cats are there permanently, but can be adopted from afar, in which you pay for their food and upkeep. I spent a good 30 minutes petting all the adorable cats.

The black one had a neurological condition and couldn't walk without stumbling

Sweet blind cat

This one had ear cancer

Ruins where some of the healthier cats are free to roam around

 I randomly stumbled across most of the things (other than the Colosseum) that I saw the first day. This is how I found the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. There was a concert/sung praise going on while I was at the Pantheon, which I rather enjoyed, but the fountain was a bit of a letdown.

Outside of the Pantheon

Inside of the Pantheon

Scaffolded Trevi fountain. Boo. :(