Italia Reflections: Rome (I)

ROMA
7-10 June 2008

After finally arriving at our camping site at 11pm at night, we got some hot pasta from the restaurant and settled into our cosy little cabins. First thing the next morning, we headed to the legendary Colosseum for our first sight-seeing stop. The moment we stepped out of the metro, there it was, standing majestically exactly like in the pictures. Complete with people dressed up as roman soldiers, ready to pose for a picture with you for a fee, there was no mistaking the fact that we were right at the very capital of the ancient world, and it almost felt like we were stepping back into new testament times. The inside was impressive as well, and we learnt about the games involving the gladiators and thousands of animals which lasted up to 100 days; but I personally preferred the look on the outside, with one half taller than the other because it was dismantled from the top for the building of other buildings. The amphitheatre actually derived its name from the colossal statue of Nero that once stood nearby. Also, it could seat about 50,000 – 70,000 people, but wasn’t the largest amphitheatre in ancient Rome, the nearby Circa Maximo had a capacity of 200,000. I can’t quite believe people could actually enjoy such ‘games’ though, watching gleefully as people or animals get literally torn apart and meeting certain death.

We spent the rest of afternoon exploring the nearby ruins called the Roman Forums, a complex built by each successive emperor to be the religious, commercial and political centre of his kingdom. Among the ruins we found Julius Caesar’s remains, the supposed tomb of Romulus- the founder of Rome, innumerable temples, churches and basilicas, the rostrum from which Marc Antony in Shakespear’s Julius Caesar declared “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…”, the arc of Titus which was erected after his successful invasion of Jerusalem. We also climbed 2 hills in the same area – the Palentino, where there were more ruins of what used to be the palaces and official residences of the emperors, and Capitoline Hill, home to the world’s oldest public museum and a little church called Carcere Mamertino where Paul was said to have been imprisoned while in Rome.

Just a short walk away (darn, we wanted to take as many buses and metros as we could since we had already bought the Roma Pass which was valid for 3 days) was the Pantheon. It is supposed to be a great architectural achievement because of its perfect hemispherical shape, the internal diameter being exactly equal to the height of the dome. It is also the best preserved structure from 2000 years ago still standing, complete. Originally built as a temple to all (Pan) gods (theos), it is now a functioning church as well as the burial place of 2 Italian kings and the famous Italian artist Raphael (yeah the red ninja turtle). The weather was really weird, with alternating periods of extreme heat radiating off the ground, and drizzles of rain. We needed our gelato relief, and we found it at this shop which had at least 50 different flavours which made us so confused as to which to try. But it was so yummy even mummy liked it.

We then walked (again!) over to the Trevi Fountain, which wasn’t that great but crowded to the last inch. Visitors are supposed to throw 3 coins into the fountain to ensure a return to Rome in the future, but we weren’t about to part with a single cent. We left quickly, wondering whether the homeless people on the streets had some sort of system as to who gets to pick the coins at the end of each day. The Piazza Navona was our last stop for the day. David split up with us to meet his cousin for dinner, and he never made it back that night. We had barely read about the sights on the piazza from our trusty lonely planet when we heard unfriendly ramblings of thunder. We decided to quickly head back before the clouds released their watery bombs onto us. Alas, the terrible bus system left us drenched anyway. Our camping site was pretty far out from the city, so we decided to stay at the train station for a while to wait for the rain to subside. The cheap pasta was our only consolation that night.