Rome – August 5, 2024

Last updated on November 27th, 2024 at 12:18 pm

[This is a rough draft to get started. We’ve done a lot of traveling so far, and are behind in sleep, so we’ll keep this updated as we have a chance. When this isn’t here anymore, you’ll know that we’re finished with the page!]

Video from Rome – Aug 6

We began the day with breakfast in our room. We started walking toward the meeting point for the Tour of the Colosseum & Roman Forum a bit early so we could take our time looking at sites along the way. We found out yesterday Sonya’s contact had secured underground tickets for us. These tickets are often hard to get as a smaller number are offered daily. We walked around the Wedding Cake – the nickname of Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. There were lots of construction fences as Rome prepares for Jubilee next year when they expect 30 million visitors. Jubilee happens about every 25 years. We walked along Via dei Fori Imperiali past the Roman Forum. We were able to take our time looking at it from the street. It is massive. The Roman Forum is located on low ground between the Palatine and Capitoline hills. It was the scene of public meetings, law courts, and gladiatorial combats in republican times and was lined with shops and open-air markets. Several structures survive today in whole or in part, including the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of the Deified Caesar, the Mamertine Prison, the Curia (senate house), the Temple of Saturn, the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of Romulus, the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Septimius Severus, and the Cloaca Maxima (Roman sewer). Since the level is lower than street level, we had a good view of much of it.

Colosseum and Roman Forum Tour – We met our guide and the family of 4 from Toronto that made up our group. The teenage son and daughter went to the same high school in Toronto Zach Edey attended. They didn’t know him, of course, but were interested that we knew of someone that attended their school. We walked along one side of the Colosseum toward the Arch of Constantine. The Colosseum is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheater in the world, despite its age. It was know to ancient Romans as The Arena, finished in 80 AD after eight years of construction using approximately 9000 slaves. The arena construction was started by Emperor Vespasian in order to keep the people happy and entertained in times of poverty and unrest. Bread was often given to guests. It could hold an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at various points in its history, having an average audience of some 65,000. Construction was funded by the opulent spoils taken from the Jewish Temple after the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 AD led to the Siege of Jerusalem. According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site, “the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheater to be erected from his general’s share of the booty.”  It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles. The underground portion was completed in 84 AD.

As per most sights in Rome, the Colosseum was very crowded. We walked through the entry gates with our skip the line tickets and began the Underground portion of our tour first. We think 25 people per hour or maybe every 15 minutes are allowed to tour the space under the arena floor! 3000 per hour are let into the Colosseum. The underground area was opened to the public in July, 2021. Our tour began with a short video showing the various gladiators and animals walking in the underground tunnels toward the arena floor. It was amazing to see the spaces for one of 8 elevators used to transport animals to arena floor and well as  spaces for animal cages, corridors, original columns, walls and floors.

After the underground tour, we visited the 1st and 2nd floors of seating area. About half of the 3rd and 4th floors are not longer standing due in part to a fire during the 3rd century and an earthquakes during the 5th century. The Colosseum was in use until 5th century, was then looted for marble and metal. Some of marble was used throughout the city, including in St. Peter’s Basilica.

After visiting the Colosseum, our group headed to the Roman Forum, stopping to view Constantine’s Arch. The Arch is a monument to the conquests of Rome, including a menorah, signifying the defeat of Jerusalem. By this time, it is afternoon and very hot – 94 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny with very little shade. We made it into the Forum, walking along the old Roman road made of large stones. Walking this road was difficult for Joyce, When we came to a bit of shade with a bench, Joyce decided she was unable to go further. She said goodbye to our guide and fellow tourists. Alan continued with the tour for the final 15 minutes and then came back for Joyce. We walked through the Forum toward the street exit and slowly made our way back to the hotel, stopping to rest and drink water.

 

We rested during the afternoon, preparing us for our Jewish Ghetto and Navona Food and Wine Sightseeing Tour in the evening.

The Jewish Ghetto & Navona Food Wine and Sightseeing Tour began and ended close to our hotel. There were 10 of us on the tour, 11 with our guide, Fabrizia. We were joined by a couple from London, England, another couple from the states, and a family from Texas including the father, a daughter working in Europe, another daughter and her fiancé. The tour begin at 6 p.m. so there was more shade, but there was no air moving and it was hot! We begin in the Jewish ghetto at an outdoor cafe, with a platter of appetizers, concia di, zucchine (marinated zucchini salad), pomodori a mezzo (roasted tomato halves) and tortino di acciughe e indivia riccia (Endive and anchovy pie). We enjoyed all of them. Our next stop was also in the Jewish ghetto to sample a Jewish fried artichokes, which were quite tasty. We continued our tour, stopping at a pizza place for pizza rossa and pizza margherita. The main course, which consisted Melanzane alla parmigiana, egg plant, and three traditional pasta dishes, Cacio e pepe (pecorino romano cheese, black pepper and spaghetti), Amatriciana (red sauce with spaghetti) and Paglia e fieno ( classic pasta dish with pancetta, peas and a light cream sauce) made in a traditional trattoria among the ruins of an ancient Roman Theater. On our way to our next stop we walked through the Piazza Navona, a long rectangular square home to the some of the most famous fountains in Rome, among them, The Fountain of the Four Rivers and the Fountain of Neptune. Unfortunately, we had to rely on pictures our guide had and glimpses through the construction fences as the fountains were undergoing renovation. Our fifth stop was for coffee and cannolino at Sant Eustachio caffe. We were getting full and still had one stop on the tour, so we chose to take the cannoli to go. We continues walking toward Piazza delli Rotonda which is in front of the Pantheon. Even though it was near 10 p.m. it was still warm and humid. The gelato at our final stop was refreshing.

We were glad the tour ended just a few blocks from our hotel. We have an early day tomorrow, so we watched the Olympics to catch up on what had happened during the day and went to bed.