Palatine Hill, Forum & Colosseum - gotta see 'em.
Trip Start
Apr 12, 2008
1
4
54
Trip End
Jun 18, 2008
Rome,
Italy
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
<Brian's brief time-tabled list of "highlights" (and of whinging)>
- Received a warning to be careful on the metro from our neighbours who had been pick-pocketed the night before... the rumours about Rome are true!
- Went on a tour of the Colosseum... It was strange to actually be at this famous site. The ruins were pretty impressive as it was massive and showed how potentially awe-inspiring the site was once upon a time... now it's just a giant ruin which is kind of disappointing really! The tour guide was kinda crappy and wasn't that good at presenting information.
- Went on a tour of the Roman Forums, Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus, the Houses of Nero and Augustus and the arch of Constatine
Brian in front of the Colosseum
. Once again, more broken ruins, some of which was just a layer of bricks! Circus Maximus, once the world's biggest chariot racing place (think Ben-Hur) is now just an empty field of wild grass.- Visited a church with Michelangelo's "Saint Peters in Chains".... this wasn't so exciting and the statues looked kind of boring.
- Visited another church called "Santa Maria Maggiore", which luckily was closed. I think we are sick of churches already and it's only our 3rd day here.
- Pizza for dinner from some corner pizza shop.
- Had a short rest back at the accom b4 heading back out again around 7pm to the Spanish Steps. Not really sure what the big fuss was about, whole heap of steps with pots of flowers strewn everywhere... it was colourful at least. There were a few artists showing their paintings at the top which was interesting. They all have very similar pictures painted with the same art style which was kinda suspicious.
- Walked over to the Trevi Fountain which was a lot less crowded around 9pm... good time to take a bunch of photos. Had a good 5 mins of no Indian/Africans/Idiots trying to sell us roses and stuff coz some Polizia walked past the fountain... if only they would stay around longer!
- Gelato later, we were back at the accom for a good sleep.
<Lang's extended version>
We were shocked this morning to hear that Paul and Heidi, a traveling family of 4, sharing the same apartment as us had been pick-pocketed last night on the metro
Graffiti on the walls
. They seem like pretty careful people, especially with money, so it was a bit of a scary thought and made us a bit more vigilant. I guess if they're gonna target you, they are gonna target you. So far in Rome, we have seen a lot of beggars and scary old people walking around asking for money. We were also approached by a woman asking if we had change for her 50 euro - who knows if she was a scammer or not, but we can only be so careful.. There are also a large number of con men running around trying to sell crap, shove roses in your faces or dressed up as Gladiators to get pictures taken with you . Oh, and when it starts to rain, an army of umbrella sellers show up!
Anyway, our plan this morning was to catch the metro to the Colosseum, it was a sight to be seen when you walked up the stairs and wham, it's just there right in front of your eyes.. However, for some reason, Brian was totally blind and it had to be pointed out to him..
So we crossed the road and went in search for the entrance.. Soon enough we were approached by an Aussie guy trying to lure us onto a tour, Brian caved in and we paid 8 Euros each for a guided tour of the Colosseum and also Palatine Hill.
Dog Dog
.The guide for the first part of the tour was horrible.. OMG, he was just talking in monotone and my brain just refused to understand or listen to a word he said.. I was so glad that we had free time after about an hour, and roamed the massive structure ourselves.. It rained at times, but at least there were shelter underneath the huge arches..
At 1pm, the 2nd part of our tour, this time around Palatine Hill, was about to start, I was really wary of the tour after the experience earlier on, but I have to say that this guide was much better. I actually enjoyed myself despite my almost inability to move.. After the first couple of days of walking/running/climbing, my whole leg, feet and calves were aching!!
We saw the remains of the House of Augustus, which was apparently awesome in the day with walls the height of a giant tree... but now, what's left of it is about 50cm high wall - the result of pillaging for the marble and wars thought over time. We also saw the circus maximus where they conducted their chariot races. Huge bets were made by the king and if they didn't win, the king would kill them anyway.
The Arch of Constantine
. What a huge incentive to cross that line first!! After that, we walked over to St. Peter's in Chains.. As the name suggests, it's a church that housed the chains that were used to tie up St. Peter when he was crucified upside down.
We then made our way to Santa Maria Maggiore which was ABC (Another Bloody Church). Luckily for us, it was closed; it looked kinda big and cool from the outside though. Its funny how we have visited sooooo many churches here in Rome, yet coming from the city of churches, we haven't even been to the biggest one there!
Anyway, a piece of pizza each later, we made our way back to the apartment for a mandatory rest period. Yes, it does feel like the Amazing Race, only we don't have the 12 hours rest in-between as we were out again in a couple of hours, this time taking the metro to Spagna, or the Spanish Steps.. We walked around and took some photos, before heading towards the Trevi fountain again.. Not before stopping off at a local supermarket to buy a few groceries.. The interesting thing we've seen in Rome is that everyone brings their dog everywhere (yes, even us.. ) - on the bus, the metro, in the supermarket etc etc..
So we finally made it to the Trevi again, it's much nicer at night all lit up.. and the crowds were somewhat less also - not that there wasn't any, but at least you didn't have to shove your way or get shoved by other people.. The flower and tripod sellers were still out in full force though..
We called it a night after that..
