Italy: Day 3, Part 1

I know. Every single stinking one of these is going to have at least two parts per day. In fact, Day 3 is going to be in THREE parts. It was a very active trip. Deal with it.

 Sunday, April 29, 2012. Roma, Italy.

Day 3 of Italian adventure and first complete day in Rome.

Six o'clock came really, really early after fitful sleep and a late post-jetlag night. I didn't attempt to take an actual shower but just let the tub faucet run while I tried to get all of me clean. Trust me, it was a challenge.

We had a breakfast of bread, ham, cheese, some kind of juice cocktail, hot chocolate, and nutella. To be honest, I would have preferred something a bit more American.

Then we joined the tour group to hop on the bus and go to the Colosseum The tour guide played that song about walking 500 miles and then walking 500 more. Little did we know that we would be walking about that same distance that day.

The Colosseum was exactly how I pictured it - limestone, marble, and history. The passage of time has taken a toll on that great feat of architecture, but it is still mesmerizing.



There it is. That iconic picture. Or one of them anyway. Trust me, I have them all.

I didn't know it but the floor of the C. was actually a wooden platform that was covered with sand to absorb the less than tidy parts of the games. I thought the whole thing was just a big sand pit. Instead, the bottom of the C. is full of passageways that are very much still present today.

See that partial wooden platform? That's a reconstruction to show what it looked like.

They've rebuilt part of the wooden deck to illustrate how it once looked. We couldn't find the stairs to the top tier but were still able to get pretty high up.

The section of the C. that is obviously collapsed was built on a less stable section of ground that had sand underneath the rock. When an earthquake happened all those years ago, the ground shifted, taking part of the C. with it. Also, the marble used in the C. was just a facade  about two inches thick - not actually solid marble. The Arch of Constantine is right beside the C. Kind of like "in the parking lot." It was built to honor the emperor (can you guess his name?) who legalized Christianity.

Palace ruins that abut the Garden of the Vestal Virgins.

We then toured the Roman Forum ruins with the tour guide and saw theh home of the Vestal Virgins, where Ceasar (sp?) was cremated, and the ruins of many ancient palaces. Especially fitting, I thought, were the abundance of rose bushes in the garden of the Vestal Virgins. Many of the virgin statues have been worn away or broken in places (mostly the heads) but some were still intact and splendid.





HUGE roses

Shortly after leaving the Vestal Virgins' garden, we split off from the group to see the rest of Palantine Hill and explore on our own. I still have trouble believing that all those buildings (and ruins, of course) have lasted for so long. (Want to know more about the Virgins?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgins)

After leaving the Hill, we got lost. I mean, we took a scenic detour to a lovely little park tat looked liked it was for locals only. There were monks, kids playing soccer and riding bikes, and businessmen sitting in the grass during their lunch hour. By "lunch hour," I really mean "lunch/nap for three and a half hours" hour. Everything shuts down in the middle of the day. Even the churches.

Enter the St. Peter in Chains mishap. Well, first I should say that we didn't plan on the stroll through the park but intended to go to a church with the Roman streets from the time of the gladiators. But we couldn't find it so we headed to St. Peter's (not the basilica). Michangelo's Moses is there, but we arrived about 1:00 p.m. and the church was closed. So we sat on the steps with our tired feet and hungry bellies and tried to connect to the internet for fun. Viola! It worked!!! We used the map to figure out where we were and sent our first we made it! emails.

After St. Peter in Chains (actually called San Pietro in Vincoli), we decided that we need lunch before we attacked each other. After strolling about, we stopped at a little place with outdoor seating ( I know, outdoor seating in Rome. Is there anyother kind?) on a side street. We ordered some water, then I got ravioli with tomato sauce and Matt got a short pasta with black pepper and a cream sauce.  His tasted better than mine, but both were good. Not great, but good.

Post a much needed lunch, we started the second part of our walking tour and were determined to be successful. First stop: Trajan's Forum. Trajan was a Roman emperor (go figure). He now has a column and has had one since about 113 A.D. Here is an outlook of the Forum with a complete shot of Trajan's Column and then an up close view of the engraving:

 





Up close and personal with Trajan's Column

That sucker is 98 feet high and is carved like that the whole way up. Right now, St. Peter is on the top. Trajan used to be up there but got lost? Stolen? Fell?  Wiki doesn't say exactly.

Tune in NEXT week for daytime visits to the Trevi, Steps, Pantheon, AND Rome's best gelato. Maybe more, we'll see how much I can fit.