On August 31st I woke up at 5:30 AM, got dressed and headed quietly out of Marcello's apartment to the bus stop, where I caught a bus to the center. My agenda for the day was to see the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. I arrived in the area before 7 AM and had a great time wandering around the area while it was still nearly deserted. While I waited for the Forum/Palatine area to open, I looked around at some adjacent excavation sites and saw Trajan's column. I grabbed a croissant and an espresso and walked around the outside of the Colosseum.
Trajan's Column
Colosseum
Rome is such a strange place to finally see. Everything is somehow at the same time much smaller and much larger than I imagined it would be. It is awe-inspiring to consider the age of the ruins, but also difficult to picture how grandiose and monumental the ancient city would have been in its heyday. Hiking around Palatine Hill, which is one of the most ancient parts of a truly ancient city, I tried to imagine what it would have been like, but amid the dust and crumbling remains, it was only possible to form a vague, hazy idea. At one of the highest points, some of the ancient marble tiles, now beaten and eroded by time, still cling to the dusty hilltop. Although they are faded and weathered, the variety in the colors can still be seen, and it is possible to imagine how beautiful they must have been. Inside the Palatine Museum there is a sample showing what some of these floor tiles would have looked like in their original state.
A view from Palatine Hill with the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the distance
Inside the Colosseum
The technology and innovation of the ancient Romans is amazing to think about. I was especially interested in accounts I read of Emporer Nero and the pomp and splendor of the Domus Aurea, a massive complex Nero built between 64-68 AD. Here is an especially interesting blurb about it from one of the museums I visited in Rome:
If you would like to know more about the Domus Aurea:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domus_Aurea
One thing I failed to do on my first full day in Italy was to heed the advice of my wise and kind hairdresser in Prague. She told me that in Italy this time of year, the sun has a special intensity, that I should really bring an umbrella and use it during the peak hours of the day. While I did, simply by default, bring an umbrella (I always leave it in the side pocket of my backpack), I didn't take her words seriously, and on that first day in Rome I traipsed around the highest point in the city, a hot dusty hill with no shade to speak of. Around 11 I started to feel not so great, and by noon I was really feeling terrible. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I thought maybe I needed to eat but the thought sounded awful - I forced myself to eat a peach I bought at a nearby stand (for 2 euro - ridiculous). I found the bus stop that would take me back to Marcello's, but I had to wait for the bus for 20 minutes, and I felt worse and worse. Finally, I was forced to yield to my body's compulsion to expel the contents of my stomach - in the middle of the sidewalk. No time to make it to a corner or anything. What came up was bright orange, thanks to the peach and the carrots I had eaten earlier as a snack, and runny because of the massive quantity of water I had been drinking to stay hydrated. This was not a discreet or attractive display.
I felt so weak and terrible all the way back to Marcello's, and I also felt like a jerk for sitting in a seat on the bus when there were old women who I should have offered my seat to. I guess it would have been much worse to offer them my seat and then vomit all over them, though. When I finally arrived back at Marcello's after what seemed like an eternal journey, he had just made lunch for me - spicy chicken curry. I tried to explain what had just happened to me, but I wasn't sure if he fully understood me. I was very touched that he had cooked lunch for me, so I forced myself to try and eat, even though it was the exact last thing I wanted to do at that moment. I managed two bites before I had to excuse myself and lie down (after one hour lying down with the fan blowing on me, I felt a million times better - I even ate the rest of the chicken curry!). This was, I believe, my first (and hopefully last) experience with sun-poisoning.
After my little nap, Marcello took Severina and I to the Catacombs of San Callisto. On the way there, we stopped at a tiny museum that's run by a group of people who are sort-of Ancient Roman impersonators. They build their own armor and weapons by hand and have mock battles. It was a cute little museum. The catacombs we visited were built in 150 AD. During this time Christianity was not the religion of the state, and Christians were persecuted, which is why they chose to bury their dead underground. I read that at its peak, the Catacombs of San Callisto would have held the remains of sixteen popes and fifty martyrs. The catacombs go up to 20 meters deep in five levels, a complex labyrinth of hallways with compartments carved into the tufa where the bodies were placed. Unfortunately for someone who enjoys the macabre, the millions of bones have been removed from the portion we were allowed to tour - it seems they had problems with tourists taking "souvenirs" with them - creepy.
The little museum Marcello showed us
These impersonator guys also make their own helmets, which I think look very nice on me.
Marcello is about to show us how to squirt people with the fountain
It was still early evening when we finished our tour of the catacombs and took a walk down part of the Old Appian Way. We still had time, so Severina and I went back into the center. Although she had already been to the places I wanted to see, she kindly accompanied me to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and Trevi Fountain. We went to the Pantheon first. I was truly amazed by this building. It's hard to say what it is that makes it so special, but something touches me about it. It seems so majestic and peaceful. Although it dates from the ancient times of the ruins I had viewed earlier that day, this building has been preserved through the ages because it has been in constant use. Though built as a temple to all the pagan gods of Ancient Rome (the name Pantheon literally meaning "of or for all gods"), it has been used by the Roman Catholic Church since the 7th century. The Pantheon really brought to life for me the ruins I had seen in the morning - I could begin to picture now the grandeur and beauty that each building would have contributed to the whole of Ancient Rome.
Pantheon
Severina and me in front of the Pantheon
After a quick walk around Piazza Navona, one of Rome's most popular squares, we made our way to Trevi Fountain. This fountain is famous for appearing in the Fellini film La Dolce Vita, but it is also associated with a traditional legend - it is said that if a visitor throws a coin into the fountain they are sure to return to the city someday. I read that around 3,000 euro are thrown into the fountain every day! I am not very superstitious, so I settled just for some pictures. However, I read an email from my mom later that night, where she told me that Trevi Fountain is her favorite place in Rome and asked me to make sure I threw a coin into the fountain. I resolved to go back the next day.
Piazza Navona
Trevi fountain
Severina and I went back to Marcello's late in the evening, where she made us a nice dinner of turkey cooked in lemon juice with vegetables and rice. I drew a picture of the ruins I had seen that day for Marcello's guest book. This book is so cool! It has cards, drawings, photographs and notes from guests he has hosted from all over the world. I am very glad to be part of the book.
I went to bed that night very tired, and planning on another very early morning.
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