Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Where to begin for today…..Hmmm….It was so jam packed (in a ridiculously entertaining and edifying sort of way) that I might as well start from the beginning. After getting ready, we took of and sort of kind of headed in the direction of the Coliseum. Before going there we needed to make a stop at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It was very beautiful, of course, will all of its marble and artwork. We even saw the beginning of a mass service or devotion service in one of its side chapels. That was interesting.

And I was so amused with the confessional booths that I took a picture of someone at confession. Haha! I couldn’t help it! If a priest was in there, a little red light above the booth was on. What made it even better was that there were confessional booths lined up on both sides of the church. Plus there were signs posted on each telling what languages were acceptable to speak at that booth. This part was funny to me. And, since I would have felt awkward having hundreds of tourists gaze at me during confession, I felt it necessary to document that there were some brave souls out there who were perfectly content with this.

Then we proceeded on to the Coliseum. But not before stopping to take a picture of Beth outside an Irish pub. She started this European escapade with a trip to Ireland so it just seemed the natural thing to do to take this picture. lol Plus, it was just funny.

At the Coliseum, we joined an English speaking tour and we were soooooo glad we did! We saw the same things that we would have if we had toured it ourselves. But we got gobs and gobs of information that we would have never known without the tour. To us, this was totally worth it! Plus, we got to bypass the ginormous line of people waiting to buy tickets. And we also got a tour of the Roman Forum included with that tour purchase. So we gained an invaluable amount of information on that tour as well. Rome, unlike Athens, does not have anything marked about what the place is called or why it’s important or what happened there. Athens was detailed. Since Rome is not, we loved the tours.

Anyway, back to the Colosseum.

It was big.

Ah. I see my blog intruder is a real smarty alec. Well, no one’s ever accused me of being shy so I’ll just keep talking.

On our tour, we learned that the Coliseum had caves right across from it which is where equipment and weapons were stored. From the caves, there was an underground tunnel that led to the underground rooms or bowels of the Coliseum. Unfortunately, it is no longer in tact due to the current subway system in Rome. It really didn’t matter to me. Seeing caves where gladiator equipment was sent enough excitement through me that I could’ve burst through the roof if the Coliseum had a roof.

And actually, it kind of did at one time. There were sort of tents that came down from the top and connected with poles that were placed at the edge of the arena. This way, people were protected from the elements to a certain degree and at the same time were still able to see all the action. Pretty ingenious. Well it was for awhile. The poles at the top were eventually struck by lightening, causing a fire. The fire was so severe that that actual Colosseum that is viewable now is sort of the second Colosseum because so much reconstruction work had to be done. Hah! Bet you didn’t know that!

Here’s a few other facts you didn’t know:

1. The Colosseum was not exactly shiny white marble, the way it is portrayed in movies. Yes, it was marble. But now, the marble from the ancient sights in the city was removed and used at the Vatican and at other churches and basilicas in the city.

2. There were 76 arched entrances around the Colosseum and the numbers were painted red. In the arched on the other levels there were statues that were also painted so it was, in reality, quite a colorful masterpiece.

3. People did indeed need tickets to enter. The structure could hold 94,000 people. Keep in mind that around a million people lived in Rome at the height of the Colosseum’s life. Therefore, in addition to the full house during the competitions, there were another 100,000 people outside just waiting to hear the roars of the beasts and reactions of the crowd.

4. The emperor had his own special seat. And the only women who were allowed a special seat on the lower level were the vestral virgins. Everyone else sat according to class and followed the dress code: White for government, nobility, and the upper class. Brown or black for the plebes or working class.

Our tour guide’s name was Max. He looked like a Max. Are you ready for a gladiator quiz? Winner gets a bottle of grappa.

Which gladiator movie is the most historically accurate?
a) Spartacus
b) Gladiator
c) The Return of the Dragon

The Return of the Dragon is an old Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris movie from 1974. Apparently, it involves them running around looking for each other in the Colosseum for a very long time, and that’s the only exciting part of the movie, so you should skip to that scene.

Answer: a, Spartacus. Kirk Douglas rules.

We spent ages after our tour just wandering around in amazement, possibly attempting to pry bricks free from the columns, and enjoying the feeling that always comes with being in such a historical place. Afterwards, we had about 45 minutes before our tour of the Roman Forum, so Katie got a really disgusting sandwich masquerading as a piece of pizza, and we sat on our favorite grassy knoll to ponder life.

Soon our space was invaded by a bunch of purple-clad Italian teenage boys.

They wanted me to say I thought one of them was beautiful so I told them that I thought everything in Rome was beautiful. Apparently that was a more than sufficient answer because on kid clapeed and said, “Bravo!” Haha!

Two more Colosseum thoughts before I move on. We got our picture taken with a man dressed up as a gladiator. The fact that it was free for our group was Max’s gift to us. Also, the movie The Gladiator has the best portrayal of a slave owner who owned gladiators.

Now, moving on. After said disgusting sandwich, we joined back up with the other folks who were wearing gold dots for our tour of the Roman Forum. Forum just meant meeting place. In this case, it meant where everyone in the city meets, meaning the center of the city. Thus the heart of the ancient city of Rome became known as the Roman Forum.

From the Colosseum, it included the Arch of Constantine. Really, Constantine’s rule was the beginning of the downfall of the Roman empire. But he was very important because Constantine was the one responsible for saving Christianity in Rome. Rome was slowly being taken over by barbarians from the north and so he moved the center of Christianity to Constantinople, which preserved the Christian faith. The arch was the last of the 40 arches of Rome to be built. Today it is one of only seven (maybe six) that still remain.

Then we went to the Palatine Hill. On top of this hill is where the palace sat. It got the name palace because it sat at the top of Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. We got to explore this area a bit. There were some very beautiful views from Ceaesar’s palace. The other reason this area was chosen is because this hill sits directly in the middle between the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Circus Massimus, which is the arena where the Roman Chariot races were held. We were able to see all the sights from there.

Adjacent to both Palatine Hill and the Colosseum sits another hill whose name I forget. But what I do remember is the important part—the gladiator school/training took place here. Now that got my mind racing. I think it would have been for sure intimidating, strangely exciting, and yet secretly scary to visit such a place during it’s prime.

The next big ticket item we came to was the Arch of Titus, which served as the entry into the Roman Forum. On it, you can see pictures of a big seven-armed candelabra, with all flames lit. There is a crowd around this fire and this image is very symbolic because it was Titus who decided to take on Jerusalem by going there with troops and burning Solomon’s temple. Also depicted on this monument you will see the Greek god, Nike. I forgot exactly why she is shown, but there was something about the Romans liking her and using her in other artwork. The tour guide said that she is always shown in Roman artwork with wings, but that she had nothing to do with angels.

Continuing here in the Forum….

There are a heck of a lot of pagan temples. Let’s say that I was your emperor. Excuse me, empress. One day I decided that I wanted to be considered a goddess. So I had a temple built in honor of myself! A temple complete with monolithic columns made of marble! Just call me Faustina.

Between the Arch of Titus and all these temples are remnants of porticos, where all the shopping stalls were located. Beyond that was the forum square. On either side of that were the basilicas (courthouses). And amongst it all was us!

There are not many bathrooms at the Roman Forum. One bathroom was located outside of the gates, so an aggravated me had to turn around and dance my way toward another one. There was a line of teenage tour participants from the Northwest Territories of Canada, and we exchanged pleasantries. Eventually I found Katie again, and we moved on to explore Palatine Hill and the palace. It was cool, and by cool, I mean totally sweet. Have you ever seen “Legends of the Hidden Temple”?

When we realized that it was 5 pm, we decided it was probably time to move on. Gelato was calling our names.

I really honestly do not think that a trip to the Roman Forum could ever be complete without making your own version of “Legends of the Hidden Temple.” That show was a staple of my childhood, and I guess the same is true of Beth. We made an awesome picture version of us playing the game in the Roman Forum, complete with the pendant of life, the shrine of the silver monkey, and a temple guard. Just wait ‘til you see the pictures. ;)

Before gelato, we took in the Capitol Square. This is located on the Piazza Campidoglio, right next to the Roman Forum. The buildings there were designed my Michaelangelo and it had a simple but beautiful fountain. It was also home to the most gigantic statues I have ever seen. After lingering there for a few moments, we set off towards the Tiber River.

We saw it, and were semi-disgusted, and changed course to go up Aventine Hill. That area was beautiful. It reminded us of southern California in many ways. What was memorable from that hill was the view through a key hole in a large door. When we looked through, we could see the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica through a long row of trees in a garden. It was amazing.

We wandered back down the hill in a direction that just looked pretty. All of a sudden we realized we’d wandered to the wrong direction of where we actually wanted to go, so we changed course and headed back towards the Colosseum. Lo and behold we went through the Piazza Albania. Ha! It was really just an intersection, but I got a picture next to a sign anyway. :)

After that we adhered to Rule #1 and got our daily dose of gelato. This time, I combined Tiramisu, Intense Chocolate (yes, that was really the name of the flavor), and Philadelphia something (Cream cheese with cookies flavor). It was heaven in a cone. Beth opted for Intense Chocolate, Nutella, and Strudel. Yummy!

We made it back to the Colosseum and began to wander back to our temporary residence. I stopped at a few souvenir shops to peek and we picked up some dinner. Beth had great ideas about dinner.

Yes, the foodie wants to talk food. Since we were both exhausted, I suggested a picnic dinner in our hotel room (by this time it was after 7 pm). After picking up a giant slab of parmesan cheese and bread, we happened upon a supermarket! Joy! Thus we completed our supper with marinara sauce, a box of Oreos (treat for Katie the Albanian) and a 2,20 euro bottle of white wine.

All this was made possible due to my pocketknife which also has a corkscrew.

Our feet are tired, our faces our tanned, we are safe and happy. Please pray for all the people of Italy affected by the recent earthquake and aftershock…that they may find their loved ones and begin rebuilding their lives. Pray also that the rest of our trip goes smoothly and we are protected from such disaster.

Tomorrow: the Vatican!