Roma, Day 2

I have to keep posting like this every night - there's so many sights and experiences I need to get it all down, so bear with the sudden influx of posts on this blog lately! I know Jiří was concerned about the lack of updates in the past month, so hopefully he'll (and you, gentle reader!) be occupied with posts to read for a while to come. ;-) I'm trying to be as "brief" as possible, as there is no way I could get everything down!

As I was awaiting my turn in the shower this morning, I looked outside the window of the living room and saw the peak of a white dome peeking above Gianicolo Hill at the base of which this apartment building is. I pulled out my Rome map and did mental calculations, and came to the conclusion that _possibly_ what I was seeing was St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. Hmm. I put it in the back of my mind to ask Lea later (later she confirms my hypothesis - 'Yes, that is St. Peter's Basilica.' 'Wow' is my only response). She asked me, what do you want to do, what do you want to see? I replied, this is my first time in Rome, in Italy, so basically, I just want to get an overview of the city and later I can do more exploring. Okay, are you interested in catacombs? YES! :-) So off we went first for my first Roman (Italian?) breakfast - in a cafe we ordered our drinks and pastries with the cashier, paid, got our receipts. Next, we proceed down the counter and put the receipt on the counter with a small tip (mine was 10 Euro... Lea didn't put anything down - no difference in service, so keeping that in mind...), and the person behind the counter prepared our capuccinos and Lea directed him to which pastries we wanted. We stood at the counter, ate, then left. There were lots of other people doing the same, some standing at another small counter set up on the opposite wall between refrigerators, and people squeezing in to get their orders to the man behind the counter. Bus tickets for me were purchased as well. Off we went.

Thankfully the transportation system is similar to what I know in Czech Republic (buying tickets from tabacco stores, punching our tickets in the machine on the bus), so it wasn't as huge of a shock that I know it could be to some people who have no idea about the system. As matter of fact, I couldn't find much information in guide books or on the internet about the Roman/Italian bus system because they change the schedules so often that there's no point - just show up at the bus stop and figure it out there. Off we went to the main station, Termini, where we bought tickets for the Archeobus that would take us to different destinations in Rome where we could get on and off as we wished along the way. It was supposed to go past the Colosseum, but we didn't. There was no way we could have missed it! There was SO MUCH to see on the bus, which was open at the top, that I was snapping away as much as I could, but we'd pass by another ruin before my camera finished processing the previous shot. So, much of what I saw I couldn't get pictures of.

I cannot begin to describe the overall, general feeling I get from being in Rome on a sunny, warm (not hot!) day. It's almost the feeling I get from being in Florida, but more like California, but similar to Spain. Then again it's completely different altogether. You have this ancient ancient thousand-year-old city that has been built and rebuilt. The result is this modern city mixing together with ancient ruins. A typical example - in some cases there weren't open piazzas in which there was a statue or fountain in the middle, but an open pit in the center of this "square" closed off by a plexiglass fence. Inside these pits were ancient ruins that are being excavated, or just being there for show. So, back to the bus. We are now going past Circus Maximus, and I'm just awed at this long row of what was obviously the outer structure of a very large building. Lea explains it's the Circus Maximus. Picture picture. Then Lea taps my arm to look to the right, where there's a very large complex, and she explains that they were the largest baths in Rome, the Baths of Caracalla - they could house around 1,600 public bathers at one time. Can you imagine??? Picture picture.

Now we are heading out of Rome proper, through a gate made of stone, and onto a very narrow road barely fitting 2 vehicles flanked by a high brick wall on either side. There's no way you could walk on that street!! We got off at the Catacombe di San Callisto. We go into this complex which is just simply a few buildings, vast grounds with trees and flora. After buying our tickets, we rush in to join the tour through the underground catacombs. It was mainly Christian burials, but not all. Roman law/custom did not allow people to be buried in the city proper - anything related to the God of War and of Death was kept outside of the city, so if the dead were not burned, they were buried underground to save space instead of spread out like cemeteries. The oldest "plots" were at the top, the farther you go down, the newer the plots were. The bodies were put into slots dug into the walls and the holes covered with clay (if you were poor) or with more elaborate stone if you were wealthy. Families often had rooms. Christianity was not allowed during Roman times so often people could not reveal that they were Christians, even Popes were not well-known in the public community for fear of persecution. (no picture picture - not allowed...)

It is 12:00 and the other Catacombs we want to go to is closed until 2:30. Ditch that idea despite how much we want to see them! We get back on the bus and it goes on further out of Rome and makes some interesting turns that I don't think any respectable driver in the US could make with a bus, except perhaps the bus drivers in LA... (note - every guide book I look at has a note under driving in Rome - just don't drive in Rome. period. Yea. No kidding!) After a very sharp turn, we are now on via Appia Nuova. This is one of the ORIGINAL roads that were built during Ancient Roman times. The other road we were on, via Appia, is also original, but it is also a road built on top of the original road. via Appia Nuova is the original road built by the Romans. We could see ruins of tombs and columns and monuments every few feet along the side of the road. mm. Finally I can see the acquaducts in the distance. What separates us from the aquaducts are a series of bridges the bus has to go under. The passageway to go under the bridge is barely narrow enough that there is about less than a feet on the corners of the bus from the sides of the passageway. I got pictures, don't worry. Best part was that the bus had to turn in order to go under the bridges, so the bus would slow down to a crawl, turning at an angle so at least the right side was almost halfway under the bridge and the left corner of the front of the bus will almost collide with the edge of the tunnel, then the bus driver turns the wheel and we manage to get under the bridge and out the other side without a scratch. Wow.

The aquaducts stretch for a very long ways, almost unending. It's a beautiful sunny afternoon and I can see people strolling lazily along them, others riding bikes and jogging. I'm tempted to join the, but so much to do, so much to see, so little time. We run into a shop to buy sandwiches - we are famished! Lea speaks Italian so she's asking the man for vegetable sandwiches so he hobbles back to the kitchen to make the order. In the meantime, he's taking a liking to Lea because she's non-Italian and yet can speak the language. She's trying to tell him about what she does and what I do, at this point my vocabulary is more than hers in terms of my profession - l'educazione dei sordi... mm.. I'm good. :-) A group of Italian men now surround Lea making suggestions for a good restaurant to eat at. She looks at me like, mm how do I get out of this... she makes excuses and we leave. I laugh!

Back on the bus we go hoping we beat the bus driver and the tour guide. No hurry, we see them after we'd been eating our sandwich for about 5 minutes - they are ambling down the road, talking and laughing, smoking cigarettes and looking as if they have all the time in the world. Ah, Roman time.

We decide to get off near the Forum Boarium, where Lea takes a picture of me getting my hand getting bitten off by the mouth of a huge stone face that is on display in the entrance portal of yet another church. This stone face used to be a manhole cover, but is now the originator of a legend in which one sticks their hand in the mouth and says something. If they are lying, their hand will be bitten off. As I read in the guidebook, this legend was perpetuated by priests who would put scorpions inside the mouth so that the legend may continue. Hmm.

Forum Boarium is a meat market, and here Lea explains to me about ancient Roman temple architecture as we gaze across the street at 2 small temples standing by the River Tiber. We look behind us and she explains to me about the money-exchange system of the vast empire of Rome. We continue on and there's a church behind the monument that the money-exchange guild had built in honor of their profession. She explains to me about the age of the floor of the church, which goes back to the 7th century A.D. (I might be wrong on some of the facts - so much said and seen today!), but I see that the floor, which reminds me of parquet flooring, is on top of another kind of stone floor. Hmm. Lea explains to me as we enter the church that it is frequented by the Roman mafia. A few years ago the front was bombed by a rival mafia member and the mafia as a whole felt bad about the damage and paid to have it restored. *I pause and stare, wide-eyed* They only come on Sundays. *oh okay, continue to walk into the church* It's a very simple church, I'm surprised it is frequented by such people of power and influence.

Walk, walk, see, see, picture, picture, explain, explain... so much to see... blurrrrrr... we end up at yet another piazza with ruins cordoned off in the center. It's a cat sanctuary, and they give free tours of the ruins and cat sanctuary everyday at 4. *looking at watch* it's 4. Lea gets very excited and explains to me that this is a very important ruin and if I don't mind, could we go on the tour? Of course. I'm thinking of the cats. :-) There are cats EVERYWHERE. All of them are spayed/neutered, and quite free to come and go as they please. They are well fed and taken care of by volunteers. I'm told that Romans believe that cats have a right to live as soon as they are born. So many of these "un-wanted" cats are not euthanized. As they come to this sanctuary (which is actually a tunnel of rooms next to the important ruins), they are spayed/neutered, and a tip of their ear is cut off as a marking system. So all of the cats we saw had part of one of their ears nipped off. And all are very content to just sit, or come and go as they please. I enjoy myself with cats that will come up to me. :-D Okay, as the tour goes on, I lose concentration in the guide because of the noise of the traffic that prevents me from really understanding what he is saying. Finally, I catch words, Caesar, Pompey, 15th of March, murder, forum... umm... is that what I'm thinking of??? Is this where Julius Caesar was murdered on March 15th, 33 B.C.? I wait until the tour is over and ask Lea, who was murdered here? She confirms my suspicions. She explains that he was killed on the top step of the stairs leading to the Teatro di Pompeo. She points to one of the marble blocks laying in the grass, surrounded by lounging cats. Serious? She says, well, archaeologists have determined that to be the top level of the steps. I stare in wonder. Wow. :-) First thing I wanted to do was tell my students from last year that I saw where Julius Caesar was murdered. :-) (We read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar last year - what fun that was!!)

Walk walk, talk talk, see see, no pictures now because it's dark... another church, beautiful paintings inside on ceilings and walls, early scupture by Michelangelo (which, by Lea's explanations, was one of his "worst" pieces) by the altar, then sculpture of an elephant by Bernini outside. She explains that the Emperor wants a sculpted base of an elephant to support an Egyptian obelisk that was brought from Egypt. Bernini had never seen an elephant and couldn't believe the accounts and drawings of elephants made by others, so he made his own approximation of what an elephant would look like. This elephant had a super large trunk, and his feet had toes. :-) But the eyes are very much like Bernini's style - very expressive and emotional. I enjoyed that. :-)

We walk some more, and boom, Pantheon. :-) Before we go to the front, Lea explains about the Pantheon history and architecture. We go inside, FULL of people. She explains some more. It's not completely the original as it had been remodeled, restored, but parts left bare because people have no idea of the exact way it looked in Hadrian's day. Oh, I can't type it all today. The Pantheon deserves to be described. Lea did a very good job of describing what it did look like in Hadrian's day based on historical accounts. I need to type it all again soon. :-)

After that we met up with 2 other Fulbrighters here in Rome and we had dinner. We were craving vegetables and they served huge salads. Although we didn't eat Italian style, we had a large salad for dinner (Italian style is like 5-6 courses- something I have yet to experience). We were the first people to occupy tables at 7. By the time we'd left about 9, the place was packed. This was the same in Spain, people arose later, had siesta from noon to 2, but really didn't go out until like 7, dinner was at 8 or later, people eat and talk into the night, sleep, and start the whole thing again.

We finally got back here at 10:30, and I've been typing as much as I can onto this blog and now my battery is at 13%. ;-) I'm going to bed so that I can be up for yet another adventurous day with another Fulbrighter I haven't met whose specialty is Medieval churches in Rome. mmm... best way to see Rome is through historians' eyes. :-)

Good night!!