We were very excited to wake up to a warm, bright, Roman day - the perfect day to spend outdoors, walking the city. And walk we did, and walk, and walk...
We had left Florence under the cloud of rain, but even as we were speeding out of the Firenze train station, we could see the sun breaking through the clouds. The train ride from Florence to Rome took about 4 hours, much of it through mountains and through the heart of Tuscany. It seemed that every town had a mountain top castle or fortress overlooking the valley below, and we saw herds of sheep grazing on verdant lawns stretched out over the landscape. There were quite a few tunnels, and we had stretches of the trip where our ears popped repeatedly.
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| One of the many Tuscan villages we passed on our way to Rome. |
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| Erin, a relatively-satisfied customer of TrenItalia. |
James also got in official trouble on the train ride. For the vast majority of our 23+ days on different nations' train systems, we have had specific time-and-seat (or bed, couchette, etc.) reservatations. Bratislava was an exception, as was inter-city routes like Venice Mestre to Santa Lucia. The train we took from Florence to Rome was an inter-city route, the cheapest we could find. What James failed to notice was an Italian instruction to validate the ticket at the station before departing. Once our conductor noticed this discrepancy, he asked us to cough up an additional 5 to 50 Euros (it was not entirely clear). Somehow, James talked his way out of this charge, but mentioned to Erin afterwards that he felt guilty. We both got over the embarassment and made our way safely - albeit slowly at times - to Rome.
We arrived at the station (how many times have we done that over the past month) as night was settling over the city, and eventually found the bus we would need to take to our apartment. We then discovered that we had to buy tickets at a newspaper stand - a couple suicidal runs across the busy street later, we were on our way. Our apartment is small - some might say cozy - but its hallway has a terrific view of St. Peter's in the Vatican, and with the right attitude, it is walking distance from all the main tourist sites in Rome.
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| The Vatican - specifically, the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, from the hill near our apartment. |
Again, today, the first day of sightseeing in Rome, was a beautiful, sunny day. Instead of taking the bus, we opted to walk - hoping to take advantage of the exercise opportunity. Our first stop was the Ponte Primo Amedo bridge, and our first view of the Tiber River that flows through Rome.
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| The Tiber's course through Rome. |
We then started down the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, one of the main arteries throughout ancient (and present-day) Rome. Our first tourist stop was the Piazza Navona, a long plaza shaped like a Nascar track. The Piazza Navona was originaly a type of competition arena, and in addition to races, it could be flooded and used for naval games, where toy ships would square off in mock battles. Today, it is filled with tourists similarly jostling for position for good photos, and a myriad of artists seeking to sell their paintings.
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| One of the Piazza's many fountains, celebrating Trident, god of the sea. |
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| A close-up of the central fountain in the Piazza Navona. |
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| The Piazza Navona's Obelisk. |
A note on the Piazza Navona. Over the course of our trip, we have seen a number of entertainers, from musicians to break dancers (some quite bad). Included in this category are the so-called "statutes" - people who seek money for dressing up and standing still. This is common practice in New York, where people dress up like the Statute of Liberty, and we've seen many variations on the theme, from King Tut to the French Elite. Today, we saw not one, but two "invisible men." There's nothing like a surprise - and today's was greatly appreciated:
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| The invisible man? Where? Honestly, the pigeon was more entertaining. |
Our second real tourist stop was the Pantheon, so-called because it was a temple to "all gods" - the panopoly of gods worshiped by the Romans. This was changed after Christians came into power, and changed it into a place of Christian worship. The Pantheon is flanked by huge granite Corinthian columns, and opens into a very large rotunda - a large, open, round space. The dome over the Pantheon is concrete, poured into an enormous wooden frame when constructed, and high above it all is a central opening, called an "oculus," that is open to the sky to let in light. It is also the burial place for a number of past Italian Kings, and the famous Italian artist Raphael.
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| Tabitha pops up in front of the un-scaffolded section of the Pantheon. |
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| Raphael's tomb within the Pantheon. |
After leaving the Pantheon, we walked further east, towards the largest of Rome's Piazzas/Plazas: the Piazza Venezia. This was a must-see for both of us - we had seen the Piazza Venezia from our bus ride and it is simply outsized both in its shiny marble and its enormous presence. We walked throughout the structure, visiting its interior museums that now house exhibits for Italy's 150th anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2011. In fact, one museum was entirely dedicated to the evolution of Italy's flag! We did not linger long, but appreciated that it was free.
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| One of the government buildings near the Piazza Venezia. |
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| Romulus and Remus, Rome's legendary founders - suckling at the Wolf, the official symbol of Rome. |
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| Erin and the Piazza Venezia's splendor in the background. |
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| Roman Ruins on (in?) the Palatine Hill. |
From the Piazza Venezia, we had our eyes set on one sight: the Colosseum of Rome. That is literal - as we walked down the Via dei Fori Imperiali, the Colosseum looms over the traffic and grew steadily larger as we approached. On our right was the Palatine Hill and the Foro Romano, active archeological digs that explore Rome, but we opted to leave that tourist activity for tomorrow. It was too important for both of us to leave dedicated time today for exploring the Colosseum.
We patiently waited in line for tickets, behind two tourists who tried (unsuccessfully) to use press-passes for ticket discounts. We also splurged for the personal radio audio-guide tours, much to Erin's surprise - it is few and far between when James opts for anything but what is included in the base price. Our tour took us from high atop the Colosseum to the ground floor - but not beneath it. We learned how the Colosseum is nearly 2,000 years old, and held between 40,000-70,000 people at a given performance. The shows were free - sad that that has changed - and each Roman citizen that visited was given a specific seat number, and was seated according to social "class" or "standing." The arena was mostly used for gladiator and animal fights, a surprising accuracy of the Russel Crowe "Gladiator" movie. Beneath the stage, there is a complicated set of rooms that housed props, animals, workers, and any other ancilary props.
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| The Colosseum as we approached. |
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| James and Erin share an embrace in front of the Colosseum. |
We navigated the Colosseum, meeting more than our fair share of American tourists along the way. We have found an interesting barter system in place at each of the tourist locations we visit. We often want a photo taken of the two of us, and while the tripod is often useful, it usually takes too long. We try to find a couple and offer to take a photo of them together, before asking the same for us. This seems to keep the interaction civil, and people are very happy to help after they've already been helped. James thinks this is Erin's invention - it is far too nice to be his.
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| Tabitha, the least fierce wild animal ever to grace the Colosseum. |
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| James and Erin exploring the interior of the Colosseum. |
After leaving the Colosseum, we headed south past Rome's Circus Maximus (the old horse racing grounds) to visit Rome's Parco dell Resistenzo, home of Rome's pyramid - or, the ancient tomb for former Roman ruler Caius Cestius! We figured that, since we should be in Egypt by this weekend, we should get into practice. We could say that we were less than overwhelmed by the pyramid, but we'll let our readers be the judge:
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| The wonder of Rome's Pyramid, traffic and all. |
We had walked nearly 20,000 steps by the point we reached the pyramid, and realized that we should head home. The likeliest route took us back along the Tiber River, and we passed 5 bridges on the way to "ours." We also passed, literally, thousands of birds. There were so many that the sky was darkened.
That's not the only impact the birds had. As we continued our walk, we heard what sounded like rain. Erin, quicker on the uptake than James, started running. We escaped with our lives and clean clothes, but it was clear that others had suffered casualties:
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| Seriously, the birds darkened the sky. It was surreal. It was scary!! |
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| One of the road's casualties. We ran. |
We stumbled home after picking up some dinner, and we believe that the 22 miles walked today beats our previous Paris record. Tomorrow, we plan to visit the Vatican as well as the Spanish Steps (for Erin's long-delayed shopping) and perhaps the Palatine hill.
