So this morning was nothing different. Breakfast was coffee, cereal and some really hard rolls. Not stale... just hard. The insides were still nice and soft. I have decided that Europe has strangely flavored jellies. This morning my choices were between apricot and plum, and this is not the first time with a similar choice. That said... plum is remarkably similar to grape.
Anyway, I then began day 1 in Rome. I headed southwest of my hostel, and I think its unlikely my route was most direct. I knew generally where to go, so just wandered without my map you. Now, despite the fact that I enjoy the walking... and don't mind the routes not being direct... I do prefer it when I find cities to be laid out in grid fashion. Its just better...
Anyway, about 30 minutes later I arrived at the first, and most important, stop of my day (in my opinion of the whole city... but that's just me); the Colosseum. It is... so... big. So much so, that it is hard to imagine what a monster of a building it had to be in its prime, especially relative to everything else know at the time. The fact that so much of it still stands is simply a marvel of roman engineering. That said, standing out side it, it was a bit fun to imagine the building full and in tact... all the tourists being romans headed for the games... stuff like that. It was/is an impressive building.
So, the first task, which paired well with my walk around the outside of this colossal ring, was to join the queue. Which, itself was about half the diameter. So, I headed around the other way, so that when I was done with the line I'd have completed a full lap. The line in total took probably an hour. Outside it moved deceptively quickly, but inside the masses sort of piled up and slowed down. That said, I thought the staff was terrific at explaining and keeping everybody well informed. Before long, I was at the front and got my ticket (which would also serve as my ticket for the Forum later).
But, before I move inside, the outside was terrific. Unfortunately, the cloud cover was still a bit thick, though the sun was certainly keeping things bright through them. But, the building has layer upon layer of arches, rising up to the upper floors. You can see inside many of them to give you a feeling for the enormity of the building. Sadly, so many of the arches have gates to keep the flow of people orderly, which is reasonable, but hinders the view when close. That said... lovely exterior, and later I got some views as the clouds thinned and they simply improved.
Moving onto the inside of the Colosseum... from the ticket office I walked through one of the many, many sets of arches that led to the inned ring. There, the first thing to catch the eye are the rows of 'seating' that tower above you in literally every direction. On the ground level you can look down into the ruins of labyrinth of rooms that excised below the stadium flood for animals and the like. Then there are I believe 3 stories of seating that rise in a cone-like stadium fashion. It is the stone remains, and at first its a bit unclear where the seats actually are. But then I noticed holes in all of the remaining walls which looked to be where rafters could be run and seats placed. From the ground floor you can spin around and imagine yourself just a little further forward, within the area, and imagine the thousands of people that could sit around you and watch.
I worked by way all the way around the ground floor, and got much the same sensations from all the various angles, and then made my way up to the second (top for tourists) level. The stairs were really steep! Definitely not up to modern code... but I'll fogive them. The second floor was awesome too, though for much different reasons. While the ground made it easy to imagine being in the arena, the upper level made it easy to imagine watching the arena. Just toss a solid covering over the catacombs, a few fighters, fill the stands below you and around you with noise and people, and you've got yourself a match. From above you felt like you were looking straight down onto the events, and the ring was large enough that you even still felt close! I again, worked my way all around the level, taking views of both the inside and looking through the arches into the city around the building, but those views were... less inspired, despite still good.
From the Colosseum I headed down the short bit of street to the entrance of the Forum. Turns out, it might net time to do the Forum first, as you can get the same ticket, and then bypass much of the line at the Colosseum. The ticket line here was practicals non-existent. Anyway, the system here was also much less organized and that was a shame, but that's ok. It didn't take long and I headed through into the Forum.
While not as immediately as impassive as the Colosseum, this was still cool. This large area is seemingly under excavation, though also possibly many of the building are just being repaired. Anyway, there was much work being done. I describe it sort of like, ruined town meets botanic garden. Most of the layout was indeed the ruins of a small town. You could easily find the remains of wells, houses, streets and churches, not to mention numerous other unknown structures. But, then there were lots of trees of many times, ranging from pine, to palm, to fruit (oranges). The trees all seemed to be very... intentionally placed, and that made for much of the garden feeling.
But, this walk too led to some great views. My favorite was from a hill in the Forum that overlooked the street that wan down the center. Looking down the street you see past some arches, over some trees, next to some columns and to the grand Colosseum. I thought it was pretty sweet. Looking out over the rest of the city of Rome, I was able to identify only the Basilica of St. Piero in the Vatican, as a result of its large dome, and two small domes in front of it.
From my vantage point I went down to the center street of the Forum, and walked through away from the Colosseum. This took me through more fun ruins, and eventually out to the foot of the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II. I do not know much about him or the building, but the building was really nice. Completely made of white marble, and it was free to walk up to it's second floor roof. Being that this building already stands on a hill, the vantage point from here was terrific. Again, I spotted the Vatican, though only by its main cathedral again, and then I could look back over the Forum to the Colosseum. I then headed back downstairs and out the front of the building, which had some pretty spectacular statues.
From there I walked back to my hostel for the night. I actually had a few issues with navigation (not much though), but after a small hiccup I was directly on track. With that I had dinner and another quiet evening.
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