*My travel recaps from our trip to Rome were deleted due to an issue with my previous blog server; I still had all the text from my daily summaries and I’m slowly going back, adding relevant pictures to those travel logs, and reposting them to my new website. *
Today was a BIG day! Our tour of the Colosseum. There are so many options for seeing this most famous of Roman landmarks, but we opted to book a guided tour of the Colosseum (including arena floor access), Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Our tour was to start at 9:30 am, but the instructions said to meet at the Arch of Constantine no later than 9:15. We knew there would be large crowds and wanted to arrive with plenty of time to spare. It was early and cold and I made the mistake of not wearing finger gloves and a headband. I was freezing by the time our tour started and never really managed to warm up again for the rest of the day. Despite my issues with temperature regulation, this was an incredible experience from start to finish!
Once again we opted to skip breakfast, mostly because we wanted to arrive with a lot of buffer. We were very early, but I was starting to panic when – by 9:20 – there was no sight of our tour guide. We ordered tickets through a major booking website (Headout) but didn’t have a way to contact the local company (Carpe Diem Rome) directly and there were people and tour groups everywhere. Thankfully, we sorted it all out and the tour guide was fantastic. Joanna – from Poland – came to Italy 20 years ago on vacation, met an Italian, got married…and has lived in Rome ever since. The tour was designed to take 2.5 hours but ended up being over 3 hours. She was engaging and a lot of fun!
We all got earpieces and could hear the tour guide very clearly, even if we were wandering along at our own pace!
This is a great view of all the “channels” below the arena where slaves, gladiators, and wild animals would wait to make their entrance.
The interesting information we were being fed about the Colosseum seemed endless. It is still the largest amphitheatre in the world and was completed in 80 AD, taking less than 10 years to build. It’s actually standing on top of an artificial lake that Nero had installed by his palace (he took his own life in 68 AD and construction on the Colosseum started soon after).
It was originally known as the Flavian Ampitheatre; the name Colosseum likely stems from a colossal statue of Nero that used to stand by the front gate. Most of the damage to the structure came from a series of earthquakes, followed by looters.
The scale of the Colosseum is incredible and in ancient times it could have seated about 68,000 people. From describing the building techniques and materials used, to how the latrines worked (toilet seats were made of marble and always cold so middle-and-upper-class people had slaves sit on the seats first to warm them up; people would use sponges to wipe themselves and then store used sponges up their sleeves; if you didn’t remember your own sponge, never fear! – there were communal sponges available to be shared – yuck!), to why there are so many giant holes in the walls (the larger ones are from original scaffolding as the façade would have been covered with marble and plastered frescos, smaller holes were used to tether horses when, in later years, the Colosseum was used as a private fortress), to the gladiator fights (80% of them didn’t end in death, there were specific schools for different types of gladiators, and the outcomes of many fights were orchestrated in advance), to how the trap doors worked (operated by slaves; a horrible job), to the role of the Vestal Virgins, to details on how the arena floor was flooded to allow for naval battle reenactments – it was a rapid-fire history lesson.
We started our tour by walking through the Gate of Death onto the reconstructed arena floor (located, conveniently, right next to an ancient morgue and hospital), and we exited through the Gate of Triumph. The final (ancient) public event was held at the Colosseum 523 AD. Apparently, all 68,000 spectators could enter the arena and be in their seats within 5 minutes and they could all leave in the same amount of time. The entrances and exits were called vomitorium in Latin, from which we get the word vomit. Seat numbers were etched on animal bones, which served as official “tickets”. My head is still swimming with all sorts of cool facts!! And while there is no affirmative evidence Christians were martyred at the Colosseum it’s a strong possibility and there are significant ties to the modern Catholic Church; each Good Friday the Pope leads a procession into the Colosseum.
Next up: Palatine Hill. You need a ticket for the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum but a single ticket to any of these three locations will allow entry into the other two. Palatine Hill is the central hill (out of seven) in Rome. This was where the rich, famous, and royal lived, starting with Augustus (he built his palace there in 27 BC). All sorts of emperors lived here: Tiberius, Domitian, Nero. They built palaces and temples and hippodromes and giant dining halls. We walked through Palatine House which is purported to be the birthplace of Augustus (our tour guide showed us what most scholars believe to be his room – the most temperature-controlled area in the palace and it was shocking how much colder it was with a perfect cross breeze). While I wouldn’t classify it as a regret, I do wish we had spent more time exploring Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum independently after the tour was over…but so much to do, so little time.
There are ancient relics…EVERYWHERE!
Next up was the Roman Forum – the hub of all social, political, and economic activity in ancient Rome. Walking along the giant cobblestones we could actually see wheel marks from chariots! Chariots!! Unfortunately, I didn’t retain much information from the Forum. It’s located in the valley between hills and is FULL of temples and basilicas (the term basilica had no religious connotation at the time; they were major halls for trade and business). There was a temple for the Vestal Virgins. We saw the burial spot of Julius Caesar. The most memorable stop on our Forum tour came when our guide showed us how Rome is built like “lasagna” – in layers. You can literally see different points in history represented by the build-up of layers, each era defined by a unique combination of materials.
See the front door tucked in behind all those columns; that used to be at ground level! The notches on the columns are from attempted removal with heavy chains, but since a large portion of the columns were buried under the ground at this point in history, the attempts were unsuccessful.
Reluctantly, we left the Forum. To tour everything could have easily consumed the rest of our day.
After our less-than-stellar pizza experience on Day Two – and knowing we were going in the same direction as Day One – we detoured through Piazza Navona and stopped at the same place pizza shop from Day One. (Unfortunately, the gelato we got for dessert in Piazza Navona was tasteless – the worst gelato of our trip – but the biscotti was delicious).
Next up: St. Peter’s Basilica. Getting into the church is free, but there are long lines and no way to “skip” ahead by buying tickets. I’d say we waited for about 45 minutes to reach the X-ray machines, but it was lovely and relatively warm which allowed me to thaw out a bit.
I really wanted to climb the dome – which you do have to pay for – and thought we should start with that. This turned out to be an excellent decision because entry to the dome closes at 4 pm, while the church is open until 6:30 pm.
It costs €8 to take the stairs the whole way – all 551 of them – or €10 to take an elevator part of the way. We opted for the cheapest route and can now say we have climbed all 551 steps to the top of the tallest dome in the world. By the end, you are squeezing through tiny holes and holding on to ropes and I can’t imagine how many people have gotten hurt climbing up this dome! Coming down was even harder; it was dizzying walking down such a tight circular stairway and I felt like I was part of a real-life optical illusion. But it was a lot of fun and a very rewarding view at the end – seeing the entirety of Rome and Vatican City (an independent state since 1929). Equally awe-inspiring was the partway point of the walk-up where you come out into the basilica right by the top of the painted dome – unfortunately, because of high metal caging, it wasn’t great for taking pictures, but in real life it was astounding!).
Pictures do not adequately convey the scale of items in this church!
Back on ground level, we were ready to go inside the basilica. This is another case of old meets new. The original St. Peter’s Basilica stood from the 4th to 16th centuries. That church was built over the Circus of Nero by Constantine in the 300s AD and took about 40 years to construct. Over time, as Christianity took root in Rome and, more specifically, Catholics started making pilgrimages to the site, by the 1500s Pope Nicholas V decided to build a new basilica. It took over 100 years to finish construction, but many famous hands worked on it, including Michelangelo (he designed the dome) and Bernini. Interestingly, as a Protestant, St. Peter’s represents the start of this branch of Christianity. The excesses of money used to build such a huge church (funded in large part by collecting “indulgences” from parishioners, who were told it would help atone for sins and speed their entry into Heaven) were what spurred Martin Luther to launch the Protestant Reformation.
It is the largest Christian church in the world and there are markers on the floor that show how other major churches compare in size to St. Peter’s. Nothing can prepare you for the scale of this place. Everything is huge. The bronze altar. The gilded letters on the walls. The sculptures. The floor tiles. The paintings. The church covers almost 6 acres and Catholic tradition suggests it is built on the burial site of Peter (the altar is said to represent the exact spot he was buried) after he was crucified – upside down – close to the Egyptian obelisk that is out in the central square. Peter and Paul were both martyred under Nero’s reign, shortly after the Great Fire in 64 AD, and there are giant statues of both apostles outside the church.
Seeing the words of Jesus to Peter: Upon this rock I will build my church – written in giant letters on the wall – was deeply impactful. In fact, all the words Jesus said to Peter, recorded in the Bible, are written out in the basilica.
My favourite feature was the Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo which depicts Mary holding the body of Jesus after His crucifixion. The emotion conveyed in this art – the heaviness of what has just happened; her body language and the tangible weight of His dead, limp body – were incredible. He laid down His life. For me! This is my Jesus. Sometimes art can convey the meaning and truth of something more powerfully than words, and this sculpture did just that. Interesting tidbit: this was the only sculpture Michelangelo ever signed. (It’s now behind bulletproof glass after someone attacked the sculpture decades ago with a hammer.)
Back outside…ready for some final adventures.
The colours at night were so vivid and beautiful.
After finishing up our tour (we used a Rick Steve’s audio guide again and it was fantastic!), we headed back toward our hotel, stopping by the Trevi Fountain to see this landmark lit up at night (gorgeous).
We ate at an incredible little restaurant very close to the Trevi Fountain. I had lasagna (pasta perfection!) and John had another carbonara (also perfection). This restaurant served the best bread we had in Italy; there were three varieties delivered to our table and they were all unique and delicious.
Despite all the great sights, I was frozen. We had walked less than the previous two days but had spent the entire day on our feet. All I wanted to do was take a long, hot shower.
The shower was tepid – at BEST – when I got in, and it only got colder. Words cannot express my bitter disappointment. I was shivering and on the verge of tears by the end (once I had committed and was wet, I had to stick it out to rinse off). Thankfully I had packed some flannel PJs as a backup and those came out of my luggage AND I spent 10 minutes using the blow-dryer to dry off/warm up. I fell asleep immediately and finally learned my lesson – gloves and ear coverings were mandatory from that point forward!
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