We had a nice breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, included with the room. They offer three selections, continental (yogurt, fruit, croissant , bun, and juice), pancakes, or American (eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast and juice). I’m sure we’ll try all 3 by the end of the week. It was a nice leisurely start to our day.
We had “skip the line” tickets to the Colosseum and Forum with an entry time of 1:30pm. We were going to attempt the Rome public bus to get to the Colosseum, but we decided to walk the mile-and-a-half to take advantage of the break in the weather. It was overcast this morning, but not raining. With walking, we can wander around a little and eventually get to where we want to go, but see what’s around the corner or down a side street. It’s really fun to just explore a little.
There’s a little island in the middle of the Tiber River, Isla Tiberina. It’s a tiny little island, 890 feet long and 220 feet wide. You can drive to the island from the Trastevere side of the river, but there’s only a footbridge to the Rome city side. The footbridge, the Ponte Fabricio, is the only original bridge in Rome. The Fatebenefratelli Hospital is located on the island, which was founded in the 16th century. There is also St. Bartolomeo all’Isola church dating from the 10th century. Just as we were nearing the island, not 10 minutes from our hotel, it started to rain, so my new umbrella failed in keeping the rain at bay. But, we persevered and continued onward.
What we quickly learned is that it is nearly impossible to take photos while holding an umbrella. While we were taking pics across the river, Christine found a pipe that held her umbrella leaving both her hands free to operate her camera.
She actually came up with a good technique of putting the umbrella handle down inside her jacket so that she didn’t have to hold the umbrella. That worked pretty well so I adopted that technique, as well.
After we left the island, we found a fenced off plot that clearly contained some Roman ruins. I’m sure these kinds of things are all over Rome. What made this one nice is that the field was full of lovely orange-red poppies.
By now it was raining quite heavily so we ducked into a church named San Nicola in Carcere. It had the most beautiful carved wooden ceiling.
After a short while, the rain let up and we were on our way again. Just down the street from St. Nicola were a couple of temples, one being Temple of Hercules Victor, a beautiful round temple. It is the only surviving mostly intact marble building in Rome and the only surviving one made of Greek marble. Across the street from the temple is the Basilica of Santa Maria Cosmedin. There was a line to get into this church. The attraction is a Roman marble mask called the Mouth of Truth. The legend is that it will bite off the hand of any liar who sticks his hand in its mouth. I guess all those people waiting in line wanted to prove they weren’t liars.
As we were nearing the Circus Maximus, a Roman chariot-racing stadium, we noticed all kinds of barriers around the streets with lots of police and vested personnel. Circus Maximus is really just a big empty lot a couple of football fields long. At one end was a huge stage and we heard a band playing. What we learned is that a big annual concert was going on this evening. May 1 is the equivalent of our Labor Day in much of Europe and in Rome they celebrate with a big concert. There will be thousands of people at the concert and the throngs were assembling as we walked toward the Colosseum, which has its own throngs of people.
We came upon the Rome Rose Garden. It contains over 1,100 species of roses and we were treated to a huge spectacle of roses in bloom. The garden is on Aventine Hill and so from the top of the garden you get a great view across the valley. Although it was raining quite hard, we sheltered under some trees until the rain subsided a bit.
We continued on our way towards the Colosseum. Coming down the hill the rain picked up again and so we trudged through the rain for about 15 minutes. Nearing the Colosseum, we found an entire long block filled with food trucks in preparation for the concert tonight. The atmosphere was party time with loud music playing and lots of people milling about.
And finally, we got to the Colosseum.
This first view was rather surprising, both to just lay eyes on the building, but also thinking that it didn’t look as majestic as I thought it would. The first thing we noticed was that the whole thing was pock-marked with basketball-sized holes all over the columns. I learned that these holes are places that metal clamps had been dug out over hundred of years of pilfering and repurposing. It was startling to learn about all the holes because the clamps were there to hold the building together. This photo from the back-side of the structure where construction was underway shows the pockmarks a little more clearly.
Near the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine. This arch was built to honor Constantine the Great after one of his military victories. It is the largest Roman triumphal arch. This was where victorious military leaders entered the city.
There were thousands of people in and around the Colosseum and it was a bit confusing in terms of where to stand in line to get in. There were lines for people with no tickets (the longest) line), lines for people with various types of tickets, and lines for groups. We were early for our ticketed arrival time and were turned away initially, by one ticket taker, but we went to another ticket taker and he let us in. It was all so confusing because there were so many people and absolutely no signage.
We wandered around the ground level for a bit and then climbed the very steep, high-stepped stairs to the second level. It was a lot of steps and Christine got a little light-headed near the top and had to stop. At the top, she was able to sit for a few minutes and have some water, so she was better soon. Around the second level were displays of some of the remnants from the Colosseum and models of how pulleys and turn-screws were used to lift the heavy stones. It was interesting, but too much to take in with all the people jostling around. On the way out, Christine bought a small booklet about the Colosseum, so I’m sure we’ll be able to learn what many of the displays were about.
The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever built and the largest amphitheater still standing despite its age. Its a wonder that the building is still standing considering the thousands of people who tramp through the place every day. It took about eight years to build and was completed in the year 80. The structure is built of travertine limestone and brick faced concrete. Seeing all the various building materials was part of the wonder of looking around. The various materials give the place texture and color. The amphitheater could hold 50,000-80,000 people. It was originally used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology. It ceased to be used as an amphitheater in the early Medieval period. It was used for many other purposes after that including housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine. The inside of the amphitheater was much more impressive than the outside and we stood in various places just kind of gawking at the awesomeness of the structure.
We did have one little trauma during our visit to the Colosseum. We got separated somehow as we were each taking photos of different things. I turned around to look for Christine, but didn’t see her. So I just stood still for a while thinking that she’d find me. After about 10 minutes, I decided to go on the hunt for her. I went back and forth around the second level a couple of times and couldn’t find her. After about half-an-hour of searching, I finally spotted her. That was such a relief. We’ll always make a backup plan in the future for what to do if we get separated. The first thing to do is remember to take our mobile phones out of airplane mode and call each other. We keep our phones in airplane mode so we avoid the daily Verizon charge for international use, but when in a panic, we’ll spend the money!
Our visit to the Colosseum was certainly memorable. It is definitely worth seeing, despite the crowds And we lucked out during most of our visit there because the weather turned fine for a while.
The tickets we had included entry into the Roman Forum area. This is an ancient Roman plaza that is surrounded by the ruins of many important ancient government buildings. The Forum was the center of day-to-day life in ancient Rome. Any important activity was conducted at the Forum and it was a meeting place for everyone. It now is an archeological park with continuing excavation of antiquities.
Unfortunately, the weather turned again and it started raining, at first lightly, and then heavily. We had to cut our visit to the Forum short due to that heavy rain. As the Forum is located in a valley between two hills, the rainwater was racing down all the walkways so we were getting our feet and lower legs soaked. Any tiny little overhang or tree/vegetation became a cover for people. It was not a very pleasant afternoon at the Forum for us, but it was truly amazing to see what we saw and to take in the history of this important forum.
By now we were pretty soaked and the thought of walking or taking a bus back to the hotel was not a pleasant one. Off we went to find a taxi stand. I figured that one of the buildings across the street from the Colosseum had to be a hotel where we would probably find a taxi. And I was right. Earlier in the afternoon when the sun was shining, one of us took this photo. Remembering that, the orangish-colored building was where the taxi stand was.
In about 10 minutes we were back at the hotel hanging up our wet socks and pants and getting dried off. What a day we had! I’d say we walked about 5 miles, half of it through pouring rain. We saw lots of beautiful and ancient things, which makes walking around Rome such a great experience, even in the rain!