My alarm goes off this morning and I do not want to get out of bed despite being excited about my day. After 15 minutes of arguing with myself about the merits of getting to the Trevi Fountain early, I jump out of bed before I can change my mind.
First stop this morning is the Trevi Fountain which I’ve heard is stunning but can get massive crowds. I arrive just after 6am and there’s a few people but I manage to grab some shots that I’m satisfied with. Next it’s on to the Pantheon. I get sidetracked a few times after glancing down alleyways that have beautiful and ornately carved buildings. The Pantheon isn’t open yet so I wander among the columns. Other than the maintenance guys scrubbing out the fountain, I’m the only one here.
I want to try and get a photo of St Angelo Bridge without hoards of people walking across as it has beautiful statues along the sides with St Angelo Castle as a backdrop. I’m a bit late now but I take my chances and I luck out as there’s just a few commuters at the far end.
I head back to the hotel to eat breaky and get ready for my Colosseum Tour with Roman Vacations that my mom got me as an early birthday present. The tour company has come highly recommended so I’m looking forward to it.
I meet the guide, Mircea and four young girls also on the tour, near the Colosseum. During introductions one of the girls sheepishly admits to being from Russia and says she’s embarrassed for her country. We don’t get into a political debate but she does say that what’s happening in the Ukraine is an atrocity. Agreed.
Mircea is in his late twenties but he’s been guiding since he was eighteen and is extremely knowledgeable and humorous. We start our tour in the Roman Forum. Some of the Forum is still buried underground due to money constraints but what’s visible is impressive. The stone road I’m walking along was constructed in the 9th century and is still in great condition. The blocks of rock were dumped in the Tiber River by the quarrymen and left for 20-30 years to make them worn smooth and later collected to build the roads.
There are plenty of massive archways with the names of the noble that had it constructed carved at the top. They thought they were pretty amazing even if they hadn’t actually done anything amazing, and would dub themselves gods and have the archways built in commemoration. The nobles’s houses and courtyards were innovative for their time with steam heated floors, fountains, baths and imported Turkish marble. It was important to show off as much as possible and impress their peers in the Senate and out of country visitors.
The politicians were re-elected every year so any promises they made during campaigning had to be kept or they were given the boot. Some of the promises included free food, wine, housing and seats at the Colosseum. I feel like this is a good idea for modern politics. I could do with some free food and housing.
We head to the Colosseum as we have a time slot we need to make. I worry that we’re going to be late (I like to be punctual) but Mircea says:
“In Italy, thirty minutes late means you’re on time. An hour late and maybe you’ll show up
tomorrow.”
A few fun facts about the Colosseum: it was built in just eight years (I guessed seventy-five so I’m a little off), the gladiators were slaves that were chosen at the ripe age of sixteen, if the crowd thought your performance mildly sucked you were given a quick death by being stabbed in the heart, if your performance was a complete dud you received a slice to an artery in your neck so you could slowly bleed out, the gladiators were stripped naked and oiled prior to the show so that the people betting could ascertain that they were in prime fighting shape and would kick ass in the arena, gladiators only fought twice a year and retired while they were on top (nothing worse than a has-been gladiator fighting with a sword in one hand and a cane in the other), the pre-show included slaves “fighting” crocodiles, bears, and lions (pretty sure not many walked out of the arena on two legs), also during the pre-show generals would attempt to entice new recruits to their armies by bragging about how many countries they’d sacked, and the Romans were so smart that they numbered each entryway, level and seat so it was easy to locate your seat on your ticket stub.
I am beat after four hours in the hot sun with limited shade and I slowly limp the 2km back to the hotel. I have blisters on the bottom of my feet and between my toes despite wearing broken in sandals. Due to the heat, my feet and fingers have swollen to double their size so my rings and shoes don’t fit the same as they did this morning. These third world problems I have on my five week vacation. Woe is me…
