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Rome, Italy

Rather than take a tour we used Rick Steve as our guide for our day of ancient ruin discovery starting with the Colosseum which of course is a BIG stadium. I am one of the few on the western side of the planet that has not seen the Gladiator movie so it was all new to me, and RS gave a very good commentary on the history, building and use.

Interesting to note that the patrons used to do graffiti back then, often depicting what they saw (picture loaded) and that despite a capacity of up to 50,000 people in the audience it was designed to exit the crowds in 15 minutes. It took 10 years to build and is made of travertine stone and the new invention of concrete and iron pegs as reinforcing, much of which was plundered and melted down after it was no longer used. The pock marks you see is where the iron bars were. The bricks and large stones were also stolen to build other buildings and churches so the ruins you see are not all due to decay and a couple of earthquakes.

Thankfully one of the early Popes saw it as the church’s responsibility to preserve art and heritage (thus the massive collections in Vatican) so they declared it essentially an historic site and gave it protection. Another interesting fact is that it had huge canvas awnings that could cover the top for weather protection of sun or rain. I am fast unlearning a perception I have that the people 2 thousand years ago (and more) were far behind us in technology etc!

We took a break from the very warm Rome day to eat our picnic lunch seated on the old steps and our backs against cool rough walls. We had time to ponder the activity that would have taken place with blood thirsty crowds pushing past on the steps, cheering at the entertainment of beast against beast, man against beast and man against man.

The days entertainment was planned by ‘editors’ much like directors of a show with different set changes with trees, animals, birds, props and such. The underground area had a floor over the top with sand on it and the animals and sets would be lifted in from different spots for effect and drama with hoists. They even had designated people to walk around and spray perfume to mask the increasing stench of blood and death as the day unfolded. Ugh!

We continued from there to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum which were included in our ticket price. RS also has walking guides for these areas which we hurried through as much as possible making our way over the hills and uneven cobbles in order to catch our Rome in the Sky lift before close off time.

The large white ornate arch pictured marks an important turning point for society from when Christianity was illegal and you got fed to lions, to when Constantine after winning a big battle declared it the official religion and Catholicism grew. In fact the tables turned from the potential to being killed for being a christian to being killed for not being one; mighty fine way to increase church numbers me thinks.

I found it a lot more atmospheric to walk amongst ruins rather than view from the top. I could imagine a bit what it may have been like to walk amongst the thriving city of 1 million and be at the halls of justice (big building with arches only 1/3 original size, Basilica Maxentius or Constantine) when decisions were handed down, and to realise that the large basalt stones under my feet were also walked on by Caesar Augustus, Julius Caesar and peers 2000 years ago.

Throughout this area sites and ruins we saw included the place where Julius Caesar was burnt, Caligula’s palace, temples of Saturn and Vesta to name a few, the House of Senate and the Vestal Virgins, and the green doors of the temple of Romulus still on its original hinges.

Tired, hot and dusty we made it just in time for our lift up to a stunning view of the city. I was thrilled to see one of the glorious and prominent angel statues close up, Vernon was just thrilled to conquer another high spot as he is compelled to….. But he assures me its the views not the king of the castle syndrome.

We saved our old legs and took the metro home to have an earlier dinner just down the street of special pizza made using 4 different Italian flours and proven overnight before being cooked in a wood fire oven, plus prime Danish steak grilled by a London trained chef. Pizza was nice and my antipasto of stuffed courgette flower with ricotta and anchovy deep fried and meat stuffed olives which were fried was tasty. The steak was done in slices and was a little chewy but nice flavour, however not as nice as Aussie or NZ beef.

Refuelled we went on a night walk of the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain hoping to feel the amore of Rome and see less crowds, WRONG! It was just as packed with other tourists searching for the same experience and a right infestation of Indian and African hawkers trying to sell flowers, stupid lightsand coloured gel blob things, and ones offering to take your photo or any other scam they can think of.

I have such a problem with these people – they are aggressive and get in your face and ruin the Italian-ness and any romance of the place. David our host said most of them are illegal immigrants but every 3 years the Italian government have an amnesty where they can buy residency for 2,000 euro – and then they enter tax system etc. Of course once they have that they can move around Europe with no borders …. Anyway we have learnt how to swat flies and get rid of them – truly its a type of wave and not look at them we saw locals do.

I do try to understand that they are seeking a living, but I think they should do it in their homeland and realise that what they are doing is very annoying to many or most.

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