Back in Time - Rome in a Day part 2

The Colosseum

It's hard to believe that anything 2,000 years old could still be standing, but there it was - the Colosseum. 60% of the original building (built from 70 AD to 80 AD) is still standing. Some of it had been rebuilt after the Renaissance and other scavengers had taken away the valuable marble and metal fittings. Some had been destroyed in earthquakes, and some just had worn down. But there it was standing majestically as a monument to ages past, a place of both glorious and horrific acts. It was amazing.

Inside the Colosseum

Our local tour guide wasn't nearly as interesting as Simone had been at the Vatican, but he was knowledgeable and shared interesting facts, but the greatest moments were just touching the ancient stone, standing on a terrace looking out towards the staging area, and staring down into the underground passages where animals and humans were kept until show time. We even saw some Roman graffiti - drawings of animals scratched into a slab of marble that had been done by some spectator ages ago.

Roman graffiti

It is only a short walk to the Forum where there are ruins of temples and the Roman seat of power. We even got to see where Julius Caesar had been cremated. It was very interesting to see the configurations and levels of history. Many of the Roman temples had been converted into churches during the Renaissance. So you saw centuries of history converging together. It must be fascinating to be an archeologist and historian working on and around these ruins. At one point, we even walked past the prison where Peter and Paul were kept. It is believed that both were locked up in the underground dungeon before each was executed by the Roman empire.

It was a lot of walking this full day in Rome, and it wasn't over yet. Cars and buses are not allowed in the center part of Rome since it is so congested. So we walked to a restaurant for our last supper of the trip. We feasted on salad and what appeared to be all you can eat pizza. First it was cheese pizza, then a mushroom pizza, and finally a pizza with what looked like salami on it or it could have been an Italian version of pepperoni. I didn't try it. I was too full. Dessert was a refreshing small cup of lemon sorbet. The icy cold tartness hit the spot for our sweaty and exhausted bodies. We still had some more walking to do as the sun set to see the Parthenon and to do some more shopping. As we traversed, we'd come across public water fountains, were people would stop and fill up a water bottle or plug up the faucet and cause the water to flow out of a small hole in the top of the pipe where the water sprayed out in an arc so you could take a drink. The water supplied by natural springs regularly flows out of these pipes and is cool and rejuvenating.

Parthenon

Around 10:00 p.m. we climbed on to the bus and collapsed. It had been a crazy and full day and we were exhausted. We arrived back at the hotel around 11:00 p.m to take a much longed for shower, and pack up. We were leaving for the airport at 5:30 a.m. the next morning.