So, how many of you have been wakened in the morning by the sounds of a full-out demonstration complete with police in riot gear coming from underneath your window? Well, we have. Just after 11:00. Yes, we slept in. Being a traveler is tiring. A tourist, probably not so much.
Our building is catty-corner from the Ministry of Transportation, and apparently there is conflict over the building of a high speed train somewhere, which would put truck drivers out out of business plus there are labor issues with the workers who would be (or are, we are not clear) building this. Lots of speeches, rally cries, and a few altercations. We, of course, were hanging out our windows taking it all in. At one point everyone started running around our corner, hands up and that was a little sketchy. Right under Ben and Griff's window they had a guy on the ground - Griff was making a video but due to operator error it did not come out. I guess his acclaimed artistic skills only extend to still photography.
Our street was blocked off so I don't think we could have left during the height of the festivities, so Connor cooked a delicious breakfast of french toast and speck. Breakfast discussion: It took almost SIX hours to do a load of laundry, and by load I am talking about two pairs of pants, some socks and underwear and a shirt. Has to be less than 2 kilos. How do these people keep their clothes clean? There is clearly an opportunity here - or in any city in Europe - a LAUNDROMAT! Jake could manage it; he has experience watching people's laundry. There are Euros to be made, I'm sure.
Once we were done eating the police line had been moved, so we could exit our apartment and go right. The Colosseum is left, but Connor's great sense of direction navigated us up to Via de Corso with nary a wrong turn. As a precaution we took our passports, just in case things escalated, making re-entry impossible.
It was a beautiful day, blue skies and pleasant temps, and we strolled at a leisurely pace. Arriving at the Colosseum is kind of jarring: You pass the relatively modern Victor Emmanuel monument, than BAM! There it is.
My plan was to do the audio tour, but we were approached by a guy asking if we'd like a private tour - after doing some cost v benefit analysis we hired him. The deal was a) we would not have to wait in line because he had tickets; b) he would give us a private tour of the Colosseum; c) at the conclusion he would walk us over to the Forum and Palantine Hill where our tickets would be valid and we could join a group tour if we chose.
After giving us some background on the site - construction was begun by Flavius, on the former grounds of that crazy-ass emperor Nero. This was in the year 72 AD, after Nero burned everything to the ground, while he may or may not have fiddled with his lyre. It was named the Colosseum because a colossal statue (150 ft) of Nero stood next to it: colossal statue....colosseum.
We entered, and immediately you notice the temperature drops. The walls are so thick it causes a natural air conditioning. We climbed up some crazy steep steps put in by one of the Popes, to the level where middle class people would have seats. As an aside, all the doors have numbers, and on your ticket it said which door to go in - just like our stadiums today. Tickets were free back in the day though, the emperor paid for everything including the entertainment, food and wine.
Events were held sometimes twice a week, sometimes a few times a month, depending on the emperor, but the program was always the same. First, hunting. They would put trees out and then release wild animals into the arena floor and then it was kill or be killed. Next: Executions. Criminals, kings of taken-over lands, enemies of the empire. Beheaded, stabbed, or crucified. Finally: Gladiator v Gladiator, fight to the death. The Gladiators only fought each other, never animals. That is only in films.
Because of recent floods the hypogeum was closed when I last checked, but we got to one point where we could see the whole thing anyway, and Brent (our guide) said even if you get down there you are only allowed to be in one small part so no loss.
We went down to the level where the Senators and Emperor watched, and heard some more history, then exited and walked along the Appian Way (the first highway, 350 miles, where returning Roman Soldiers marched back into Rome) to Palantine Hill. Alas, we had missed the last admission, so could not go inside, probably due to the fact that some of us are talkative and ask lots of questions and make tours last longer than usual. No names, please. Well, this worked out fantastic for us, because Brent felt bad and so took us all along the perimeter and across the street to the Forum and all the way up the road to the Victor Emmanuel monument. You don't really need to be inside the gates of Palantine Hill to see stuff, so we got more than we paid for. I think he liked C & G, he was a 20-something guy from Maryland who had been traveling and ran out of money in Rome 4 1/2 years ago and has been here ever since.
So, cultural landmarks checked off for the day, we split up to do some shopping. Ben and I got back to the apartment first, all the demonstrators were cleared out. Griff showed up a little while ago with a couple a bags - he definitely succumbed to some "LOL OMG" stuff and has gone to the supermarket. He and Connor got separated early in the shopping expedition - good, because I wanted them to be out on their own at least once.
Connor's back, he also had success with shopping and having a small snack at Burger King. We'll hang out here for awhile then head to dinner....drum roll please....at Pizza Ciro. Why mess with success?
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