Rome September 15

 

Saturday, September 15                           (2.0 miles total on the pedometer)

This morning, I skipped trying to shower in the bathtub of death, and took a bath instead, which was much safer. I then got to enjoy one of the bananas I bought with breakfast. Everyone met in the lobby at 8:20 for our last full day in Italy. 

We all took the Metro across town where we met Francesca, who would be our guide for the rest of the day. I had been very impressed with each city guide that Rick Steves had provided. So far, each one had been better than the one before, and it seemed they had saved the best for last. 



















Francesca really brought Rome to life. She had narrated some audio and video tours for Rick Steves, and at one point in the Roman Forum, someone recognized her voice. I was impressed. 

 

Our first stop was the Basilica San Clemente; a church built around 1100 AD. It was small and medieval looking. I had seen quite a few churches by now and was in a hurry to get to the Colosseum; but then Francesca escorted us to the ruins below. 

From the internet.

The first level of ruins below the current church, were from a 4^th century church that had been converted out of the home of a Roman nobleman. 

From the internet.

Beneath that we saw that the nobleman’s home had been built on the foundations of a building that had been destroyed in 64 AD. We were walking on a 2,000-year-old street. It was an excellent example of how Rome was built.

From the internet.

From the internet.

It seems that the city was built in a valley with a river nearby. Every century there would be 3-5 major floods and/or earthquakes, and there was no way to remove all of the silt and debris. There were also many wars, to say nothing of the Fall of Rome, when the city lost most of its population. So, the Romans would fill in the rubble and build on top. They would re-use the stone and marble to make new buildings. That is why there were ruins on top of ruins all over the city. Modern construction is a problem because contractors always have to work around previous civilizations.

Francesca explained a way to think about Rome, “The further you can see back, the further you can see forward.” She also pointed out that the ruins could be deceiving. So many Roman ruins today appear white; that one assumes that they were made that way. But that is incorrect. She had us imagine what it looked like. It seems that every surface, including statues, and plaster walls in homes, were covered with brightly colored dyes in intricate patterns, which over the centuries have faded. In addition, anything of value had been looted. Bronze statues were melted down and made into weapons for the next war, which is why there are so few Roman bronze statues in museums today. 

I was surprised to learn that anytime you see a word carved into a piece of marble, that it had once been filled with bronze lettering, that has since been scavenged. An interesting side note, sculptors during the Renaissance used white marble and did not paint their statues, thinking they were copying the Ancient Roman style.

After leaving the church we were given 30 minutes to find a bathroom (it would be awhile till we found another), and purchase a bag lunch that we would eat in the Roman Forum after our tour of the Colosseum. Greg and I bought a couple of sandwiches, some bottles of water and some cookies from one of the small cafés nearby. We also found some fresh fruit at an outdoor stand. 

As our group walked single-file behind our guide the few blocks to the Colosseum, we saw two buff guys dressed in Gladiator costumes looking to pose with tourists for a fee. They started to come our way, until they saw Francesca, who with a glance made it clear to them that we had no time for such things, and they hurried along.

Across the street from the Colosseum, we saw a large excavation of ruins that had been gladiator housing and a training camp. 

Once inside the arena, Francesca told us how to “read” the history in the walls of the structure, which are today pockmarked with thousands of holes. Originally, there were only holes along the top to hold poles for a fabric ceiling. Every surface of the walls would have been painted with bright colors. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was used by squatters who dug additional holes in the walls to put up poles to hold curtains for privacy. Later when it was used as a garbage dump, looters left more holes when they pried out the iron bars that were actually holding the stones of the structure together.

Our guide did her best to get us to put our preconceived notions aside about the Colosseum and asked us to imagine what it would have been like at the time.

 The building could hold 60,000 people and had enough exits to empty the place in 30 minutes. 

There were many public spectacles, including animal hunts, gladiator contests and re-enactments of famous battles. The venue was also used to kill criminals. There were no jails, and this certainly kept people in line. 

The emperor paid for all aspects of the festivals, which had a party-like atmosphere including free food and drink. This was probably why he was popular with the masses.

To be a Roman citizen, who had never seen an image of a wild animal, would have been stunned to see a lion or tiger walk out into the arena. The emperor had so many wild animals brought in from North Africa for animal hunts that some animals almost became extinct. During one festival in 81 AD, which lasted 100 days, 9,000 wild animals were slaughtered. Many more animals did not survive the months of difficult travel.

As we walked toward the Roman Forum we saw a bride and groom sitting on a railing posing for pictures with the Colosseum in the background. The photographer had rolled up the bride’s dress to show off her legs. Weird.

The Forum used to be the town square; housing the market place, government buildings, courtrooms, shrines, temples and a triumphal gate used for military parades. 

Francesca explained that most citizens spent very little time in their homes which had no windows, kitchens or bathrooms, and were mainly used for sleeping; causing the Forum in those days to be a very crowded and overwhelming place. 

All that is left now are the ruins scattered over hills and valleys, and a lot of bumpy uneven pavement. It is still an active archaeological site. Fifteen years ago, a large section of it had been a parking lot for tour buses.

Francesca showed us a drawing of what the Forum would have looked like when Emperor Nero ruled Rome. There had been a huge man-made lake complete with a statue of Nero that was as tall as the U.S. Statue of Liberty. The lake was in front of the equally impressive palace. After Nero’s death, the new ruler tried to erase all memory of Nero, forbidding his name to be spoken. He kept the statue but had a new face sculpted in his likeness.

Triumphal Arch

Located in the Forum were the ruins of the Temple of Vesta, where the Vestal virgins tended the eternal flame used by Romans to light household fires. Francesca told us some of their history. Girls from wealthy Roman households were chosen to join the order between the ages of six and 10. 

It was a 30-year commitment with quite a few perks, but some tough rules--the punishment for letting the fire die out, or for being unchaste, was death. The problem was that Vestal Virgins were now considered sacred and it was a sin to kill them so offenders were buried alive, with a few days worth of bread and water, and if they happened to die anyway, well, so be it. If a virgin completed her service she was allowed to marry.

After our tour, we were left in the Forum to have lunch and continue exploring on our own. We walked up a hill and found a shady spot to eat our sack lunches. Lou and I went in search of a bathroom inside a nearby building, where we found a single Men’s and a Women’s restroom. Not surprisingly there was a long line for the ladies’ room. Since there were no men in line, the women were using both. When a man walked up, he cut to the front of the line assuming the men’s room was empty and was quite surprised when a woman walked out. I enjoyed that some of the older Italian women made quite a fuss about the men not waiting their turn.

We headed back across the Forum and saw a fascinating exhibit of ancient glass. 

There were examples of plates, bowls and urns in many bright and colorful designs; some dating back to the second century BC.

By now we were tired and ready to escape the heat. We joined some of our other travelers and headed toward the exit, which was up WAY too many stairs. I guess that made sense, since they had to dig down quite deep to get to the ruins. Luckily, we had our water bottles and there were many spigots to refill them along the way.

We were headed to the top of the Altare della Patria, a large national monument that the Romans have nicknamed the “Wedding Cake.” 

 Donato had recommended taking the glass elevator to the top of the building to enjoy the amazing view of the city. Unfortunately, there were many more steps involved just to get to the entrance. Greg opted out, but I went up to the rooftop for a few photos. 

At this point, something unimaginable happened--my camera battery died. No problem, I always carry a couple of spares…OMG, they were all dead too. WTF! There was nothing for me to do, but come down.

Next on our agenda, Lou wanted to see the statue of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa, which was in the Santa Maria della Vottoria chapel across town. As we stood outside the “Wedding Cake,” trying to decide how to get there, I caught the eye of a woman taxi driver on the far side of the busy street. She made a swift U-turn and off we went, Lou and I giggling all the way. It was a beautiful statue with quite a history and was one of the clues in the Dan Brown book, Angels and Demons.

Tired and in need of a snack, we followed the signs to McDonald’s. We sat outside with the pigeons and the old Italian men who presumably hang out there all day. I got some fries and a fountain soda, while Greg tested a cheeseburger to see if it tasted the same as the one’s at home. It did.

 

My energy slightly renewed, we took the Metro back toward the hotel. There are two subway lines that crisscross the city. The Roman’s have tried to build a third line, but they have to stop when they find new ruins. The stations were clean and comfortable. The trains were different from other subways I have been on, because there were no doors between cars, and you can see all the way to either end.

Throughout the trip, I had been a little disappointed that we hadn’t seen the roving bands of thieving children or gypsies that we had been warned about. All of a sudden a group of six, 12-15-year-olds boarded our train right after us. The train was crowded and the four of us were all holding on to a pole in the center of the car. As they passed us, they made a lot of noise and seemed to have trouble getting around Greg, even though there was plenty of room. 

The ringleader, who acted just like the Artful Dodger, put his hand on Greg’s chest possibly looking for a pocket, and then moved on down the car, where they sat joking until they hurried off the train at the next stop. Of course nothing happened to us; we had been wearing our money belts in very hard to reach places for a week, waiting for just this sort of thing to occur. We did whisper and gawk at them, and were not surprised when they got off the train, and huddled together as if they were bragging about their latest score from other unsuspecting victims. That was the best way to not be robbed. My trip was now complete.

We still had a few hours before our farewell dinner. Pat and Lou wanted to go back to explore more of St. Peter’s, which appealed to me but not without a new camera battery, so I went back to the hotel with Greg who wanted to rest. The receptionist at the hotel told us that St. Peter’s was closed by now, which was fine with me. I was more than happy to take a nap while my batteries charged. It turned out that St. Peter’s was open and Pat and Lou enjoyed their visit. I was glad I didn’t know that until later, I needed the rest.

 

At 7:30 p.m. we all met Donato in the lounge for his farewell speech. He got all mushy and even sang a song. I shouldn’t make fun of him, because I had told him that I would like to sing a song, too. Lou and I performed the song that I had written for the trip. It was a huge success. Check out the video on my Facebook page. Donato was surprised that I written the song before we left. I was pretty sure that my feet were going to hurt. It was not that hard to imagine.

Our farewell dinner was at L’Angoletto, a restaurant around the corner from the hotel. We had the whole place to ourselves. We began with an Antipasti plate with a fried zucchini blossom, and an anchovy stuffed olive, followed by the house specialty, an orange-flavored pasta that was savory, not sweet, as I would have thought. Our main course was Saltimbocca, chicken with prosciutto in an herb sauce, served with potatoes and salad. For dessert, we had a cup of fruit salad.

 

As a special treat, everyone was offered a glass of Limoncello, and a chance to try Grappa, a very strong liqueur made from the leftover pieces of grapes after wine is made. I couldn’t bring myself to taste it, but it smelled like either paint thinner or lighter fluid. 

 

The meal ended with some lovely toasts and a few rounds of the song our tour had adopted, “Que Sera Sera,” sung with as much gusto as Doris Day.

Pat and Lou decided to call it an early evening, while the rest of the group headed off with Donato to the Spanish Steps, which he told us were actually built by the French. The steps linked the Spanish embassy with a French church.  It seems that the French and the Spanish didn’t get along, and, when the French men would get drunk and pass out on the steps, the Spanish would shanghai them and make them work on their ships. Seemed like a pretty harsh prank.

We then walked to the Trevi Fountain and took some final photos with the members of our group. 

Donato told us a wonderful story about the making of the fountain. It seems the sculptor got into a disagreement about the design with a barber, who wanted to make sure his shop had a good view of the fountain. 

For spite, the sculptor designed a large urn that was placed to block the barber’s view of the water. 

 

To make things worse, he made the section of the building that the barber could see look as if it was falling apart. The barbershop closed shortly thereafter.

Our group took a bus back to St. Peter’s and as we approached the Old Bridge Gelateria, we realized we had ten minutes until they closed at midnight. We all hurried over and joined the long line for a final treat. What a great way to end our own “Roman Holiday.”

We walked home, said our farewells and went to our rooms to pack. I had been preparing for this moment the whole trip; how to get all of our souvenirs into our quite full luggage. Our secret--we threw away all of our dirty underwear and socks! We also pitched some washcloths, plastic cups and anything else we could part with. Finally tried to sleep at 1:30 a.m.