Roma the Third

"I'm glad Romulus won over Remus. I wouldn't want to visit Reme."

-Adrienne

Greetings, Readership! Before we memorialize today's adventures, I just want to say thanks for the many great comments from some of our readers. (I love comments! Proof that people actually read the blog is tremendously gratifying.) Now, I know some of you read and don't comment - this is also completely fine (esp. if blog entries are later mentioned in common conversation, especially if such mentions are favourable or use the words "brilliant" or "outstanding" or the phrase "I wept at the sheer fantasticism of your prose").

Today was (more or less) ancient Rome day.

On the way to the super-old attractions, we passed a moderately old attraction: the Vittorio Emanuele Monument.

Frommer's notes it is "Italy's most flamboyant landmark". This is saying a lot from a city where it seems to be that bigger + more marble= meglio! It was built in the late 1800s to honour the first king of Italy. Apparently, it's been compared to both a wedding cake and a Victorian typewriter (I see cake, not typing - what does that say?)

After some light touring of the Roman forum (read: breezing by with the first gelato of the day), it was on to the highlight of the day:


The Colosseum, the greatest architectural legacy from ancient Rome. Built between 72 and 80 AD. As we all know from Russel Crowe's cinematic tour de force, Gladiator, the Colosseum was used to hold gladitorial contests (between men and men, men and exotic African animals, men and other not-so-exotic animals such as deer - vicious deer?). It was even possible to flood the place and stage "naval battles".

Sadly, Rusty and Ridley got some things wrong. For instance:

• Did you know there was no "thumbs up/thumbs down" (gladiator lives or dies) in real life?
• Most gladiators (9 for every 10) survived their gladitorial stints?
• It was not possible to "win" your freedom by fighting well? Gladiators were the property of their agents for a full 7 years, after which many continued to "freelance" as professional fighters.

The wooden floor where the fights were held is gone. And so, as these pictures show, we can see into the "basement" where the animals and men were held pre-contest before being hoisted onto the wooden floor by a series of er, hoists.


As an aside, for those of you wondering where I am in all this, here is photographic evidence that I am actually on this trip (AKA a moment where Marco was able to pry the camera from my vice grip.)

Just outside the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, erected by the Roman senate in AD 315 to honour Constantine's defeat of the pagan Maxentius. Interestingly, what's actually on the arch has little to nothing to do with Constantine or his works. But when the urge to build a giant arch strikes, Senates should not concern themselves with historical accuracy.

Next it was on to the Palatine Hill (where legend has it that Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome), the Palatine Museum, and an aerial view of the Roman Forum. The site is more or less ruins today. While I have a keen eye for rocks and their meaning, having visited many a jewelry store, it was helpful having a guide point out their significance beyond the short tour I had prepared (Excerpt: "here is another pile of rocks. They are also dusty.")

Here's the ruins of Domition's personal stadium:

The remnants of his palace:
And the aerial view of the Forum, between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, the centre of Roman life in the days of the Republic.

This amounted to a lot of walking. Even though Marco believes our touring pace is "punishing", I still think this is only Fun Tabbing Lite. Even so, I was more than willing to take the subway. The subway was extremely dirty, crowded and very deep underground.

The subway has some funny warning signs. We were tired and punchy and made up meanings for them. Sadly, these meanings are too rude to print here. I'll let your imaginations run wild (as with all pics, click to embiggen):

People of the Italian Metro: what is going on in the lower right and left pictures? Esp. the right one. Honestly. Do the residents of the eternal city really need a warning against that?

In closing, I want to close on a hot topic. There's been a lot of talk in the comments of late about "dude scarfs". Who has one. Who wants one. Who wants to see Marco with one. We had another siting today. I Kinneared it for you all. This one was particularly egregious, style-wise, in my opinion.

See you tomorrow for the Vatican!