I had a roll on the bus. It was grand, especially since I've kind of stopped with the whole eating thing. Or at least eating as much as usual. Italy isn't very appetizing.
Either way, we made it to the Colosseum! Woo! One of the main reasons I wanted to go on this trip was so that I could see such things as the Colosseum. 'Cause I'm going to be completely honest here, I didn't come to Italy for all the cathedrals. (*gasp!*) I know, I'm crazy. Sure, they're worth seeing, but what can I say? I'm a Classics minor after all, so OF COURSE I'm going to be more excited about the ruins. And it's the Colosseum! The Colosseum!
I mean just look at it!
You can tell I'm excited can't you? 'Cause if not I've...I've just failed you. Horribly. But, yeah, this was pretty much the thing that really sticks out in my mind about today. Seriously, the Colosseum. I can now say that I've been to the Colosseum. I hardly remember anything Vig told us about it except for pointing out some of the original tile work and then the thing about the seats of course and everything else was about how they used to keep the gladiators and animals in the now exposed labyrinth of chambers under a wooden floor that was covered with sand. And they had an elevator or two to bring up said animals and gladiators. Aside from the trapdoors, I mean. But, aside from the elevator thing, this was information I already knew. I've known about it since I was just a kid reading some cute little books on Roman history from the school library and thinking about how spectacular it would be to actually see the Colosseum.
I can die happy now. :)
What was even better was that, while I was up on the second flight taking pictures (and getting my picture taken like I promised I would), I noticed a little blackish grayish smidge moving about on the grass near the Colosseum floor. It was a cat. A little stray cat was wandering about the Colosseum. That just made my day right there. xD I didn't get any good pictures of it, but if you look reeeeaaally closely here, in the full size picture, you can just make it out in the middle of the grass. Almost the center of the picture.
So after we walked around the entire Colosseum and Vig was yelling at us through the headsets that we all needed to come downstairs and regroup so we could leave, I was taking a picture of the triumphal arch, Arco di Costantino (the Arch of Constantine), across the street...
...and a bird pooped on me. xP That's one of those things I'd hoped would never happen, but it did. In Rome. With a whole day ahead of me still. Yeah, it was special. But I had some wipes on me and I did get it out of my shirt (and hair Dx) rather quickly so the spot wasn't too noticable. It was only later that I was informed that, in Italy, a bird pooping on you is actually good luck. So yay! I guess.
Well, after that we had nothing else planned so we were allowed to do as we pleased. So we decided to walk to the Forum across the street in a big ol' group, past the triumphal arch, and over very large cobblestone that I was sure my ankles or knees would give out on. And then a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum...well, it's true! Something funny DID happen on the way to the Forum! I have a theory that something funny always happens on the way to the Forum. That's why they put those costumed gladiators there, ready to prey on unsuspecting tourists.
It wasn't us they were preying on, though, and I wish I'd had my camera out at the time because it was priceless. One of these gladiators was going to pose with this group of tourists. He grabbed each one of the three guys there in turn and threw them on the ground, one on top of the other. Then he struck a pose, placing one foot triumphantly on top of the pile and pulling the two girls close to him, one in each arm. Needless to say, there was much laughter and amusement involved and, like I said, I wish I'd had my camera out.
Anyway, I didn't get to go inside the Forum itself. We just looked at the ruins that we could see from the outside. I believe it was Monica and her mom Louis--part of our group, obviously--who decided to go off on their own and actually go inside. I actually wanted to go with them, but there was some confusion as to what everyone was doing and by the time I looked they were already gone. So I was kind of disappointed. One of my goals for this trip was to go into the Forum. But, as it turns out, going with Monica and Louis would've been a bad idea. They told us later that they had to pay 11 euros for a ticket when it used to be free and the ticket was for the Colosseum and another area as well, though I forget what it was. The catacombs perhaps? Either way, the lady there was mean, they went in and walked right out again without realizing it. There were no signs or anything to direct them. They couldn't get back in and found out that you're supposed to get a map at the gift shop outside at the entrance before going in. They ended up not seeing anything that you couldn't see from the street. So I guess I count myself lucky that, instead of going with them in a failed attempt to see the Forum, I went with Cynthia (Dr. White, the professor heading the tour) to go on an insane tour of what seemed like every single last cathedral in the whole of Rome.
I can't for the life of me remember where all we went. Even my pictures aren't all that helpful. I still haven't identified a number of places we visited--and certainly not for lack of trying--and some cathedrals don't allow picture-taking. I suppose I'll have to make a note to ask Sarah if she remembers anything about them. All I really recall are the Piazza Venezia (or The Wedding Cake, as they like to call it) at the beginning of our adventure and the Piazza Navona at the very end before we took the subway back to the hotel.
Oh! Of course! The Pantheon! How could I forget? It feels like that was an entirely different day, but we did in fact visit the Pantheon today. It was magnificent, inside and out. Though not quite so magnificent from the back. I didn't even know where we'd gone until we rounded the corner and I saw the gargantuan columns and doors. I figured we were just going to see another cathedral and, at that point in the day, they were really all starting to blend together, so I wasn't all that excited. But when I saw where we were--wow! I mean, I knew it was big, just not how incredibly big. The inside was incredibly crowded, making it difficult to take decent pictures, but I tried to ignore that. After all, I'd already been in one massive, crowded, uncomfortable building today, I was used to it by now. Besides, it was the Pantheon. Despite the sheer beauty of St. Peter's Basilica, this was just so much more worth my patience.
Ugh, I keep forgetting things. I think I'm done but then no, I remember something else. Let's see, there was Cynthia's kids drinking out of a water fountain in a little park carrying water via the old aqueducts (I, sadly, did not partake), those in our group who wanted only to get drunk for St. Patrick's day and got these weird Dr. Seuss-like hats that were green from a bar that had them last year (they said St. Patrick's Day 2007 or somesuch), and the long search for lunch. We all split up and Sarah and I couldn't find anyplace that looked good to eat, nor one that had a bathroom. But we stumbled upon Melissa, Cynthia's friend, and some of the other members of our group. Melissa told me to put me in one of my books and then made me try white wine, which was nasty. Then I felt bad because I didn't eat much of the pasta that I'd ordered and I think I confused the waiter since there was so much of it left. And I think I confused many others as well. Just because I wasn't eating. But I don't really like pasta all that much and, well, this is Italy, there's pasta by the barrelfull here. So I guess I'll either get used to it, or I'll starve.
My vote's for the latter.
Photo albums for the various locations we visited (in no particular order): Rome 3/17, ruins across from the Forum that I never learned the name of, San Luigi dei Francesi, Santa Maria del Popolo, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, another cathedral, a neat looking place we passed by, and a very large courtyard area where we got gelato. I had stracciatella. :)
Lookit! Seats! SEATS! THAT'S WHERE THEY USED TO SIT AND WATCH GLADIATORS KILL EACH OTHER!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!
You can tell I'm excited can't you? 'Cause if not I've...I've just failed you. Horribly. But, yeah, this was pretty much the thing that really sticks out in my mind about today. Seriously, the Colosseum. I can now say that I've been to the Colosseum. I hardly remember anything Vig told us about it except for pointing out some of the original tile work and then the thing about the seats of course and everything else was about how they used to keep the gladiators and animals in the now exposed labyrinth of chambers under a wooden floor that was covered with sand. And they had an elevator or two to bring up said animals and gladiators. Aside from the trapdoors, I mean. But, aside from the elevator thing, this was information I already knew. I've known about it since I was just a kid reading some cute little books on Roman history from the school library and thinking about how spectacular it would be to actually see the Colosseum.
I can die happy now. :)What was even better was that, while I was up on the second flight taking pictures (and getting my picture taken like I promised I would), I noticed a little blackish grayish smidge moving about on the grass near the Colosseum floor. It was a cat. A little stray cat was wandering about the Colosseum. That just made my day right there. xD I didn't get any good pictures of it, but if you look reeeeaaally closely here, in the full size picture, you can just make it out in the middle of the grass. Almost the center of the picture.
So after we walked around the entire Colosseum and Vig was yelling at us through the headsets that we all needed to come downstairs and regroup so we could leave, I was taking a picture of the triumphal arch, Arco di Costantino (the Arch of Constantine), across the street...
...and a bird pooped on me. xP That's one of those things I'd hoped would never happen, but it did. In Rome. With a whole day ahead of me still. Yeah, it was special. But I had some wipes on me and I did get it out of my shirt (and hair Dx) rather quickly so the spot wasn't too noticable. It was only later that I was informed that, in Italy, a bird pooping on you is actually good luck. So yay! I guess.
Well, after that we had nothing else planned so we were allowed to do as we pleased. So we decided to walk to the Forum across the street in a big ol' group, past the triumphal arch, and over very large cobblestone that I was sure my ankles or knees would give out on. And then a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum...well, it's true! Something funny DID happen on the way to the Forum! I have a theory that something funny always happens on the way to the Forum. That's why they put those costumed gladiators there, ready to prey on unsuspecting tourists.
It wasn't us they were preying on, though, and I wish I'd had my camera out at the time because it was priceless. One of these gladiators was going to pose with this group of tourists. He grabbed each one of the three guys there in turn and threw them on the ground, one on top of the other. Then he struck a pose, placing one foot triumphantly on top of the pile and pulling the two girls close to him, one in each arm. Needless to say, there was much laughter and amusement involved and, like I said, I wish I'd had my camera out.
Anyway, I didn't get to go inside the Forum itself. We just looked at the ruins that we could see from the outside. I believe it was Monica and her mom Louis--part of our group, obviously--who decided to go off on their own and actually go inside. I actually wanted to go with them, but there was some confusion as to what everyone was doing and by the time I looked they were already gone. So I was kind of disappointed. One of my goals for this trip was to go into the Forum. But, as it turns out, going with Monica and Louis would've been a bad idea. They told us later that they had to pay 11 euros for a ticket when it used to be free and the ticket was for the Colosseum and another area as well, though I forget what it was. The catacombs perhaps? Either way, the lady there was mean, they went in and walked right out again without realizing it. There were no signs or anything to direct them. They couldn't get back in and found out that you're supposed to get a map at the gift shop outside at the entrance before going in. They ended up not seeing anything that you couldn't see from the street. So I guess I count myself lucky that, instead of going with them in a failed attempt to see the Forum, I went with Cynthia (Dr. White, the professor heading the tour) to go on an insane tour of what seemed like every single last cathedral in the whole of Rome.
I can't for the life of me remember where all we went. Even my pictures aren't all that helpful. I still haven't identified a number of places we visited--and certainly not for lack of trying--and some cathedrals don't allow picture-taking. I suppose I'll have to make a note to ask Sarah if she remembers anything about them. All I really recall are the Piazza Venezia (or The Wedding Cake, as they like to call it) at the beginning of our adventure and the Piazza Navona at the very end before we took the subway back to the hotel.
Oh! Of course! The Pantheon! How could I forget? It feels like that was an entirely different day, but we did in fact visit the Pantheon today. It was magnificent, inside and out. Though not quite so magnificent from the back. I didn't even know where we'd gone until we rounded the corner and I saw the gargantuan columns and doors. I figured we were just going to see another cathedral and, at that point in the day, they were really all starting to blend together, so I wasn't all that excited. But when I saw where we were--wow! I mean, I knew it was big, just not how incredibly big. The inside was incredibly crowded, making it difficult to take decent pictures, but I tried to ignore that. After all, I'd already been in one massive, crowded, uncomfortable building today, I was used to it by now. Besides, it was the Pantheon. Despite the sheer beauty of St. Peter's Basilica, this was just so much more worth my patience.
Ugh, I keep forgetting things. I think I'm done but then no, I remember something else. Let's see, there was Cynthia's kids drinking out of a water fountain in a little park carrying water via the old aqueducts (I, sadly, did not partake), those in our group who wanted only to get drunk for St. Patrick's day and got these weird Dr. Seuss-like hats that were green from a bar that had them last year (they said St. Patrick's Day 2007 or somesuch), and the long search for lunch. We all split up and Sarah and I couldn't find anyplace that looked good to eat, nor one that had a bathroom. But we stumbled upon Melissa, Cynthia's friend, and some of the other members of our group. Melissa told me to put me in one of my books and then made me try white wine, which was nasty. Then I felt bad because I didn't eat much of the pasta that I'd ordered and I think I confused the waiter since there was so much of it left. And I think I confused many others as well. Just because I wasn't eating. But I don't really like pasta all that much and, well, this is Italy, there's pasta by the barrelfull here. So I guess I'll either get used to it, or I'll starve.
My vote's for the latter.
Photo albums for the various locations we visited (in no particular order): Rome 3/17, ruins across from the Forum that I never learned the name of, San Luigi dei Francesi, Santa Maria del Popolo, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, another cathedral, a neat looking place we passed by, and a very large courtyard area where we got gelato. I had stracciatella. :)
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