ROME HI LIGHTS

The cab arrived on time and I was off on my own.  I arrived at the train station and stood looking at the trains departure board and for some reason my train information was missing.  I stared for a bit and than saw that someone was at the information desk.  I just hoped he was able to understand and speak a little English.  I learned that my scheduled train was not running and he told me to take the train departing from Platorm B and get off at the second stop and then take the train to Vitrolles and I could catch the shuttle to the airport. As I was learning all this a young girl showed up who was also taking the train to the airport.  She was from Avignon and I explained that I was just going to follow her if she didn't mind.  We went to our plaform and I sat directly across from her.  She immediatey went to sleep.  When we were approaching the second stop I reached over someone to tap her gently and ask her if we were to get off here.  She just shook her head and said no, not yet.  I was a iittle nervous but she seemed confident.   Finally  after a few stops she signaled it was time to get off.  We walked up to the exit and she pointed at a shuttle bus and said that will take you to the airport.  It was sooo easy.  I was so lucky.  

Well my plane left at noon and it was now around 8: 00.  Yes, I know, I was there plenty early!  I like to leave plenty of time incase something happens.  I looked for the Alitalia check in counter.  No where to be seen.  I saw an information booth and leaned that at 10:00 they would set up in the center of the airport at check in counter A.  Easy enough.  I read my book and eventually was able to check in.   Plane left on time and arrived early.  I had arranged for a driver to pick me up and take me to the hotel. Lots of drivers at the terminal but no one with the name BACKUS  on the poster.  I waited and waited and  finally someone showed up with my name on a screen ( everything is digitalized these days) and informed me I had been waiting at the wrong terminal.  Oh well.  It all worked out and I was his only customer so I didn't hold anyone else up.

I met Michele at the Hotel D'Inghilterra.  A little boutique hotel.  It had three lovely "livingrooms" to sit in and a most accommodating and friendly staff.  

In our room we had a lovey terrace which we thought we might enjoy but we were not in our room except to sleep.  

In our private living room which again  we never sat in.  The weather was just beautiful in Rome and we took advantage of it.  Our first stop was to get a little bite to eat and of course a glass of wine.  Gave us a great opportunity to catch up.  We were both pretty tired at this point.

We walked around our "neighborhood" and did some window shopping.  That night we enjoyed a lovely meal at our hotel with Marco ensuring that everything was to our liking.  There are many benefits to traveling with a young, pretty, very friendly and outgoing young lady!

Saturday we had a tour  of ancient Rome arranged by a company called Viator.  Great company to use for tours in cities.  They contract with local tour companies.  We met Claudia, our guide, who was wonderful.  She has a PHD in archaeology.  She was so interesting and our three hour tour went by so quickly.

We started out in the Coloseum.  It got it's name because of the "enormous" statue of Nero. The "colossus"  which was located outside the colosseum then known as the Flavian Amphitheatre .  This statue was 30 meters high and covered in gold.   When Nero was no longer in power they "beheaded" the statue and replaced it with the head of the sun god. The statue has now been completely destroyed.   The theater was built by the emperors for the people and admission was free.  This was done to keep the "people happy" so they would not revolt and it was also the place of entertainment and capital punishment. 

The Colosseum opened in 80 AD was 50 meters high on 200 meters of land and took the Romans only 7 years to build.  Thirty five thousand slaves were used to build it and it was paid for by the raiding of the Temple of Jerusalem. There are 80 gates through which the Romans entered.  Each person or family  was given  a "ticket" which told them what gate to go through and where to sit, social status determined the seating.  The senators, vestal  virgins, priests and the emperor were of course seated in the front rows. The poorer citizens were seated in the wooden sections and also women as they were determined to be a distraction to the gladiators.

The seats for the senators.

  You can see the gate number above the arch.

Only 40 percent of the Colosseum is original today.  At one time it was completely white as it was covered in travertine marble.  In the middle ages, when no longer in use, the Colosseum was transformed into an enormous marble, lead and iron quarry used by Popes to build Barberini's Palace, Piazza Venezia and even St. Peter's.  The saying in Rome is  "What the barbarians didn't steal the Barberini's did". Claudie informed us that a shoe company, and I did not gete the name, has donated 250 million euro's to clean the Colosseum.  

In the next picture you can see the floor of the Colosseum in the background, ( not the original which has been destroyed), and then the underground area where exotic animals and gladiators were located prior to their being lifted onto the floor of the Colosseum.  The floor was covered in sand to hide the trap doors and helped create the surprise effect of the appearance of the animals or gladiators.  The Latin word for sand is arena.  

Claudia pointed out that many buildings were used by the emperors to inform the people of events and the vastness of the empire.  The exotic animals informed the people of far away lands that were now part of the empire.   The Triumphal  Arches were built to celebrate victories and glorify generals. etc.  

Gladiators were prisoners of war and fought in the colosseum.  If one consistently won he could gain his freedom.  They were the "movie stars" of their day!

Although this was a of course a pagan monument the secret to turning such a monument into a Christian monument was to put a cross on it.  The monument was threatened to be demolished by Sixtus V for town planning reasons when Benedict XIV declared it a sacred monument dedicated to the Passion of Christ.  The cross is still the starting point for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.  Since then it has become an object of worship for Christians and was protected from  further destruction and ruin.  Popes after have restored and consolidated it.  

Notice the crosses on the left.  

Of course any Pope who spends money on the Coloseum wants to be recognized for his contribution.  

This is a picture of the colesseum as it was before its distruction  and deterioration.  There were statues of gods in all the arches and bronze sheilds all around the top.  

  This picture shows the holes in the walls.  At one time there were metal clamps.  They were taken out, melted, and weapons were made.  It's called rcycle.  Everything is recycled - statues that were in the colosseum are now in the Vatican. or some other church or building, marble, gold, etc.  Recycle is a polite word for "stolen".

Everywhere in the Collosseum you see these piles of stones.  Earthquakes are common in Rome and as the monument is located in a prime traffic area that contributes not only to the darkening of the marble but also the falling of stones.There is an underground system in Rome as well.  

Here you see the cross where marks the placr where the emperor sat and with the placrment of the cross turned the pagan monument into a Christian one.

In the left foreground you see the white stones.  This marks where the Colosseum used to be.  Two archways are no longer there because the materials were "recycled".  The south side of the Colosseum suffered the most from the pillage.

We learned so much more but I must get on this blog or I will never get it done.  

We next visited the Roman Forum.  Three thousand years ago the land the forum was built o was a marshland, completely submerged.  By an incrediable invention of engineering, which was commissioned by the last two Etruscan kings, the so-called Cloaca Maxima, a canal that still functions today allowed for the drainage of the land.  The area soon began to develope and at the end of the 7th century BC, it was home to many markets and a hive of social activity.

Foro was the name that was given to the central square of activity.  Here masses would flock to meetings of the orators, attend criminal trials, and discuss internal politics or military campaigns.  It was also the locations of markets, shops, and taverns.  It was the heart and soul of the city.  

During the Middle Ages the Forum fell into a state of ruin and was abandoned.  Its monuments were often used to build midieval fortifications and at times even completely dismantled and their materials used elsewhere. In those times the area was used for cultivation and grazing and it took on the name of  "Campo Vaccino" or cattle field. 

It was in the eighteenth century that the Forum was rediscovered and finally the difinitive process of the recovery of the ruins began to bring this long-forgotten barbarically plundered historic patrimony back to life.

Listening intently to Claudia talking about the Forum.

The way it looks today.

The way it looked then.

The burial place of Julius Caesar today.

As it was.

Here you see part of the remains of the home of the vestal virgins. The virgins job was to guard the flame in the Temple.  Vesta was the goddess of the hearth and home.  The Romans believed if the sacred flame was kept lit, Rome wouold stand.

The vestal virgins were chosen by the high priest as children and were asked to be kept virgins.  It was quite an honor to be chosen.  The vestals were even allowd to attend political meetings and trials and were given honorary places at the Colosseum for the gladiator games.

The vestal virgins took a 30 year vow of chastity after which time she would receive a large dowry and could marry.  If she was caught breaking this vow, she would be literally buried alive with a loaf of bread and an oil lamp.

This is Claudia and everyone walking on an original Roman Road!!  Built BC.

Here you can also see what was another road built above the road she is standing on.  She described Rome as being like lasagna - one layer on top of another.  Rome had the Imperial phase, the Republic phase and the Monarchial phase.  Each left their mark.  Mussolini built his road right on top of the Forum.  As I mentioned Rome does have a subway system it has two lines.  They are trying to complete a third line and I believe they said it has taken 40 years thus far.  There is so much buried beneath the city that needs to be excavated and studied before each phase of the subway is completed.  

Probably a better illustration of the two levels of roads.

As you look out in this area you see the two Triumphal Arches of Titus and Constantine.  The Arch of Constatine is the largest surviving Roman triumphal arch and the last great monument of Imperial Rome.  It was erected in 315 BC.  

In the Triumphal Arch of Titus, if you look closely you can see the Menorah.  This is telling the story of the Romans sacking the Temple of Jersalem and taking the gold from it so that they can pay for the building of the Colosseum.  Although built by slaves it was designed by engineers and used architects who desired to be paid so there was a great deal of cost in the building of it.  And of course, what would the colosseum be without  some gold adornment.

Our next stop was Palatine Hill.  The Beverly Hills of the Romans.  We visited one palace and although in ruins you can see the immensity of it.  Although you only see the bricks now it was once covered in mable, gold, and mosaics.  This shows the height of what they've determined to be only the first floor.  There was a second floor.

some of the marble that remains.

Mosaics - upper part of photo.

The marble floor.  All colors brought together.  Each color came from a different part of the empire.  

Of course, what is  a palace without it's own entertainment area.

And so we left Claudia and started looking for a place to eat.  

One last shot with the Colosseum in the background.

Using trip adisor we found a cute little Ristorante near the Colosseum. 

After lunch we just strolled around Rome but we did have a mission.  While in the Colosseum we had seen people taking "selfies" using a very special device designed specifically for this purpose and we were determined to find one and buy it.  There were only 3 salemen per square foot selling them so the mission was easily accommplished.  After purchasing two our problem was keeping the other 10000 salesmen from approaching us.  

Here we are with our new devices.

We just strolled around Rome and looked at various sites and enjoyed the beautiful day in the beautiful city.

Michele wanted to buy a Borsalino hat so we walked over to the shop and she had fun making her selection.  Of course it always looks better when you strike "the pose"!

This large white building stands out in this very ancient city.  It is known as the typewriter or the wedding cake.  The name "wedding cake" derives its name from pilots flying over the city during the war.  Seeing the "wedding cake" they knew they were flying over the center of Rome. It is officially known as the Monument Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II It was built as a tribute to the first king of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II.

That night our concierge had recommended a traditional Italian restaurant not far from our hotel - Nino's on Via Borgognona.  That suggestion was to change the whole dynamic of our trip.  We were seated next to a young couple that we just happened to strike up a conversation.  I mean the tables are practically  on top of each other so you really can't help but talk a little bit.  Well we did more than talk a little bit.  They were from New York and traveling in Italy, visitng Rome, Venice and Milan.  Had I known about this night 34 years ago I would certainly have named Michele, Kerry.  Here we were - Jerry, Mary Terry and Michele.  Despite the very unusual name Michele did manage to fit in.  I do hate to say that I think we did cause some raised eyebrows at the restaurant.  We just had so many good laughs.  I think the other patrons were perhaps jealous.  

Here is our first picture together - a selfie, taken with our new device.  No longer deendent on outher people to take photo's.  OK, so it's not a perfect shot - we're jjust learning.

We exchanged "information" and vowed to get together again before we departed Rome.

What a fun way to end a wonderful day in Rome.