Day 3 in Rome

Well rested, we were out the hotel door by 9:00 AM. We had big ambitions for the day, but weren’t quite sure if we could pull it all off.

We started at the Forum, the former center of political and social life in ancient Rome. Now in ruins, the Forum is situated between two hills: the Palatine and the Capitoline. The Palatine is one of the original Seven Hills of Rome and where, according to legend, Rome was founded by Romulus. (Actually, lists of the Seven Hills of Rome changed over time, just like the different versions of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.)

While in ruins, the Forum is still a remarkable place with recognizable structures; it is the oldest part of the city. The Forum itself was the open public space for processions, business, speeches, etc., and was surrounded by temples, arches and government buildings. Like the Seven Hills, the Forum also changed over time. Julius Caesar saw fit to build a new Forum since the old one was getting too crowed, and this is essentially the one we see today.

Our first stop was the Roman Senate building, where the Republican form of government began. Other highlights were the House of the Vestal Virgins, priestesses of the Goddess Vesta. There were only six Vestal Virgins and their responsibilities primarily included 1) maintaining the sacred (eternal) fire in the temple, and 2) remaining chaste. They had very good lives if they did that, and were free to marry once they turned 40. If they weren’t good at their jobs, they were buried alive and replaced with new virgins (apparently there was a small stockpile in the House). It’s a bit ironic that Rome began with women priests and today has none. A change in gods has the tendency to turn things upside down!

The Arch of Titus was remarkable. It was built in the first century CE to commemorate Emperor Titus, who reigned from 79-81 CE. Titus is best remembered today for his siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, to put down a rebellion, and his destruction of the Temple. On the south panel of the arch is a relief depicting the spoils of war, showing Titus’s soldiers carrying their loot from the Temple, including the menorah.

We braved Palatine Hill, which was quite a climb, especially considering that we were always on old cobblestone streets and paths. The stones are worn smooth over the centuries and treacherous at times. Remarkably, none of us fell. When we reached the summit we were rewarded with a panoramic view of the Forum.

After three hours of wandering through the ruins, we can’t possibly describe everything. What we leave you from this, though, is a strong recommendation: If you ever come here, get a guide. We did not; instead we bought the audio tour, which meant we were always pressing numbers into a device and listening to a narrator.

The problem with the audio tour was that the narrator was very difficult to follow. He spoke fast and would tell us to look left, turn around, look behind, walk straight ahead (or was it “look ahead”?), etc., but this assumed we were correctly oriented. We often were not. If you had been watching us, you would have thought we were doing the Macarena (poorly, as most everyone does), not following a tour. We were constantly turning, looking and walking in different positions. Carol and Julie who seemed best at recalibrating their compasses, frequently reached out to poor Terry, who seemed to wander the farthest. He finally gave up on using the listening to the audio altogether and just admired the scenery.

When we finished, we decided to stop for lunch and refuel, and then take on the Coliseum. We ate our first pizza in Rome, and it was delicious and quite different from Papa John's. We conferred about our Coliseum strategy and agreed that we would seek out a personal guide. When we arrived there, we found one. A touring company said they had a young man available who spoke perfect English, considering that he was from Baltimore. Actually, he was originally from England, but had lived in Baltimore.

This was one of our smartest moves. Brent, our guide, spoke to us for a while outside the Coliseum, explaining its history and surrounding area. That was worth the price of admission (and tour) alone. Then he took us inside. It was a most dramatic moment. Also in ruins and far from what it looked like in its days of use (up until the fifth century, we were told), it was not hard imagining the gladiators fighting beasts and themselves. But it was also sobering. Carol commented that she didn’t quite know how to feel about it because of the gruesome and cruel executions that took place there.

The place was scary for other reasons. It’s in ruins partially because of earthquakes. It looked like it would only take a small tremor to bring the place down. As some of our readers may know, an earthquake had been predicted (by some guy who died years ago) to take place in Rome on May 11. Despite the inability of anyone but psychics to predict things with such precision, many people took this seriously. (We weren’t faced with that quandary because we weren’t due to arrive in Rome until May 12, or not at all.) Brent told us that the owner of the tour company didn’t take any chances and left Italy, but that all of the guides were to show up for work. Nice.

Our mission partially accomplished (we still had plans for the evening), it was time to head back to the hotel. There was a taxi stand nearby, but the cab driver told Terry it would cost 18 Euros for the ride (we only paid five Euros to get there!). Terry said, in perfect Italian, “No!” (which means “No!” in English). The cabbie wouldn’t bend (we must have looked like we really needed the ride), so we set off to find another one.

Terry concluded that this would be the situation anywhere on the main boulevard by the Forum and Coliseum, so got the bright idea to walk down some other streets to find a taxi stand. Carol and Julie made the mistake to agree.

We walked, but no taxi stands were to be found anywhere. We walked more, but still none. Soon the taunts began. “18 Euros is looking pretty good right now!” We headed up (or down; who could tell?) another street. “We could have been at the hotel right now, but someone was cheap.” More walking, and we couldn’t even locate our position on our map. “Now it’ll cost 25 Euros for a cab!” We asked someone for directions, which took us off into another direction. “”Eighteen Euros worth of shoes leather!” At last, Terry had a rejoinder: “Aha! We’re aren’t wearing leather shoes!” This feeble attempt at self-defense was met with sneers, so Terry knew he had to find a cab or the abuse would continue.

Finally, we found a taxi stand. We were farther from our hotel than our starting point at the Coliseum. Still, the ride only cost six Euros. While not exonerating him, it did give Terry (and only Terry) a sense of relief.

We later learned that at one point we were just a few blocks from our hotel, but took a turn in the wrong direction.

Carol and Julie took naps (Terry felt too guilty to take one) and then we headed out for the Tiber River to Pont Sant’Angelo (Bridge of Angels), completed in 134 CE. In the 17th century, Pope Clement IX commissioned Bernini to erect ten angels, each holding a different instrument of the Passion (one the Cross, one a nail, one a lance, etc.). They were amazing, and the walk along the Tiber was beautiful on a picture-perfect evening.

We decided to walk around the neighborhood and find a charming place for dinner. Well, “wander” was more like it. We became a little lost again (Terry was happy that he wasn’t navigating!), but we were close to home and enjoyed the narrow streets and happy people. We finally decided on an osteria and had another delicious meal.

On the way back we met some nice women from New Jersey and had a lively conversation. They told us about a wonderful nearby ristorante they just had dined at, so we walked to it and made reservations for the next evening, our final one in Rome.

We soon got our bearings and walked back to the hotel. We all turned in, happy with our full day (minus the unintended long walk after the Coliseum).