SPRING BREAK 2010: Grand Tour
Day 6 (31 March): Rome, Day 2
Ancient Rome: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum; Pantheon; Column of Marcus Aurelius
The second day in Rome, I stepped back in time and visited the ancient city. I got the party started at the Colosseum; you know, start out small with the minor sites so that it’s not all downhill from the start. Call me an expert tourist; I’ll be modest and deny such a compliment but secretly, I’m well aware that I am a step ahead of the game. (In the left of this picture, photobombin’ the big guy’s shot, is the Arch of Constantine).
(emphasis my own)
I read lots about all the cool stuff I saw in the outer part of the Colosseum, and oh haiii we are back to the classical orders we were first introduced to at Greenwich. Except, not the Inigo-Jones-I’m-English-and-obsessed-with-Andrea-Palladio versions; no, these are the originals. Because this is Rome and things are very old here and the Roman Empire was a big deal and so people wanted to copy it left and right so they would be big deals also. It’s a big deal.
Walking around, I didn’t just read but I also looked. But I didn’t look a lot because, well, there wasn’t a lot to look at. I am disappointed in the Romans’ ability to hold themselves together (literally), but I guess thousands and thousands of years is a long time to keep track of your head or your whole body from the ankles up. Heck, I’ve only had to worry about my bod for 19 years, and I can’t honestly tell you I’ve been aware of my head’s whereabouts for all of that time.
Heads! Found ‘em. Now if we could only get a hold of some of those pesky torsos…
Eyeballs, too, are often very helpful. But we are getting there. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
I left the old guys to get themselves sorted out while I explored one of the Big Seven.
If I’m going to be real with y’all (which I strive always to be), I will tell you that I think “getting” this one will require another viewing of Gladiator. (Believe it or not, I am not being facetious here; but if you have other Colosseum movies to suggest, hit me up). I mean, I understand that this is old, and it’s cool, and some really incredible things happened here (filling it with water to stage naval battles? Ridiculous), but to this day I’m still coming to terms with the millions and millions of people who watched epic performances from the same steps I sat on, or patronized the market that it once held or, when things got real bad, called the Colosseum home. That’s big. Too big for my tiny self.
I hopped across the street and flashed my super-deluxe ticket that also got me into Palatine Hill, legendary home of Rome’s founders, Remus and Romulus. Remember how in Iceland, Geysir = “geyser”? Weeeeeeell, Palatine = “palace”. So basically, toss out that Rosetta Stone: English DVD you just bought off the TV at 4am, and just retrace my steps across the world; you will learn at least two words and I don’t know about you but these are two I use on a very regular basis.
The Stadium – it was either a racetrack or maybe just a biiiig garden, but “they” know for sure that it was part of Domitian’s home in the first century.
Traipsin’ around
Don’t quote me on it but I do believe Romulus’ hut is somewhere in that mess of flora and scaffolding. Nawbig.
Palatine Hill overlooks the Roman Forum, which began as a cemetery then took it up a notch and became a marketplace before later becoming a Roman shanty town in the 8th century BC. I feel like if this was not a tourist attraction and you did not have to pay €9 to get to it, hipsters would take this over as their own, exploiting its illustrious history as further ammo in their arsenal of trendy irony.
Temple of Antonius and Faustina. Not tiny.
Temple of Castor and Pollux
Daily dose of modern art analysis: the one left standing rises victorious, above the somewhat-discombobulated ruins. The height differential enables this sucka (technical term) to align himself with the powerful, resilient Antonius/Faustina.
Temple of Saturn
Trajan’s Markets and the Imperial Fora, which I think was a little bit under construction/a little bit on the pricey side; and to be honest, I was quickly approaching my old-stuff quota so maybe it was better that way.
I did manage to pass Trajan’s Column, which is this tall glass of water. (Except that it is actually made of stone, not water or glass). They were filming what I gathered to be Italian CSI right under it, so let’s make sweeping assumptions and venture to guess that I sighted a celeb. Does it still count if you don’t know who the heck they are?
Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, in honor of the first king of unified Italy. For some reason, I was out-of-control excited to finally come upon this - I had seen it during my numerous aerial views the day before and it felt a little like reaching Mecca once I made it up the steps... Why? Have I seen this in some movie or something and been like "Awesome... Italy."? Anyone? Can anyone figure me out, since I clearly cannot?
Even Italian litter is cooler.
Next stop: Pantheon! (But not before two rapid-fire gelato sessions; I got one because why wouldn’t I - it had to have been at least 45 minutes since I had eaten last, God forbid – and then while poppin’ a squat to get my bearings before entering the Pantheon (and to finish my gelato, because that’s trashy to eat gelato in the Pantheon), I discovered a tidbit in my guidebook that one of the best gelaterias in Rome was right around the corner. Hey, you only live once, so I ate gelato twice.)
Props Marcus Agrippa for the cool dome (Michelangelo even copied you, how’s that for celebrity endorsement) but you sort of forgot something…
Or maybe you knew all along that leaving the big gaping hole up top would actually be really awesome. Well, you were right.
Sunrays, we are still BFF 24 hours later. Keep up the good work.
And on to the next one: Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Here is the point in the trip where Michelangelos just become the norm. Like, “toss one here, there, wherever they fit really; we just have so many of them in this country it’s honestly just a chore”. Risen Christ, but Mike was my kind of guy and the gold panties weren’t his idea (not that I am not into gold panties but sometimes nude is just better, ya know what I mean?)
Column of Marcus Aurelius, where I sat for a while and took it all in and watched adorable Italian children chase birds and watched gorgeous Italian men and women meet up to share their wonderful lives with one another. I love the way Italians congregate: it begins with the iconic double-kiss, and then they sit casually and exchange what I can only presume are profound, enchanting thoughts – the language just seems too beautiful for idle chit-chat to be the same idle chit-chat that we have in English.
On my way back to my hostel, I passed by Termini, Rome’s slightly-sketchier version of Grand Central; a guy was carving beautiful flowers and birds out of carrots, beets, and potatoes! So cool.
Italy, in a nutshell: Tuscan buildings, Christianity, and motorbikes. Day 2 recap – miles walked: >6; gelato eaten: 2; unknown celebrity sightings: 1; tavola calda pizza stops: 2*; appreciation: priceless
*I swear, I could give Elizabeth Gilbert a run for her money; 1 year, in Eat Pray Love, and you left with only an additional 20 pounds? Girlfriend, I can do that in a weekend.
Related Links
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment