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Day 16 Photos of our adventures After getting less than 5 hours of sleep, we rolled out of bed for our next journey, Rome. This time, not only was the train on time, it was actually early. At least our day was off to a positive start. Neither of us were very happy though. I think after two strenuous days of physical activity, the last thing that we wanted to do was to walk around the streets of Rome. The fact that it was supposed to be 90 degrees that day was not helping to improve our morale any either.
We decided to start off our adventures at the coliseum. The structure was impressive. We went with a guide who helped to dispel many of the myths that the movie The Gladiator had put out there. Here are just some of the things that we learned from our tour:
The stage where the fighting took place was actually decorated like the stage of a play. There were props.
The tigers that the gladiators fought were kept in complete darkness for 3 days in the lower chambers of the coliseum. When they were finally raised on a platform up to the arena stage, they were blinded by the light, making it easier for the gladiator to wound and eventually kill them.
The overwhelming majority of the time, the gladiator won the fight. When they did, they carried the dead body of the tiger around the arena stage.
Gladiators were not prisoners. They were honorable, highly skilled, and well trained men. Most of the “fighting” that took place was for show. Any gladiator who actually got to kill another fighter had to be given express permission by the emperor. Permission to kill was almost never given.
Often times there were lots of blood, guts, and sweat that fell on to the arena stage. Since gladiator performances were all day events, with little time to clean up in between acts, sand was spread over the arena floor to cover up the mess.
Free food and drink was provided by the emperor to all who attended these all day extravaganzas.
After our coliseum tour, we were super hot and hungry. The street vendors were some of the only food places in sight. Rather than walking all over in search of food, we opted to try some food from one of the carts. We dined against a street wall in the shade.
Hot and tired, we continued our trek through some of ancient Rome’s ruins. We overheard a tour guide explaining that the area we were in was where many of the senators of the time did their business and where Cesar eventually extended his empire.
We finished our day in Rome by taking in one of the most impressive sights yet, Saint Peter’s Basilica. Michael and I waited in a long line to climb up 551 steps to the top of the Basilica. I had to opt out after 251 because my fear of heights became too great to continue. Michael journeyed to the top and got some amazing photos. He had a grand view over much of the city. When we met on the ground floor, we got to tour inside the cathedral. The sights and sounds were hauntingly beautiful. Mid-day mass was taking place and a choir was singing. It’s hard to explain the emotion that goes along with what we were experiencing, but you can get a small sense of it from our photos.
We capped off our day with dinner at a local restaurant. It was some of the best food yet…perhaps because we were celebrating the final day of adventuring. Tomorrow, we had already decided, would be a day of rest.
Daily Eats Breakfast: Rachel had a cream filled pastry and water. Michael had a breakfast sandwich with a cappuccino.
Lunch: Rachel had a flat bread pizza with a mostly frozen bottle of Powerade. Michael had a “brick and mortar sandwich.” That’s not the official name, but that is how he would describe it. The bread is the brick, the mortar is the cheese, and the salami was the equivalent of jerky. Just terrible.
Dinner: We shared some bruschetta to start. Rachel than had a Sprite and spaghetti in a spicy tomato sauce. Michael had 2 beers and gnocchi in a white sauce.
Dessert: We found a wonderful place that made cannoli’s from scratch. Of course we partook. Being the gluttons we are, we even opted to share a scoop of gelato on the side. (We had big dreams…but we never made it through the gelato.)
Miggy says: The architecture here is epic in scale. High fashion, awesome train terminal. I wish we could have spent more time here. We missed the vatican museum and the Sisteen Chapel - because we hovered at the Colosseum too long. I would have started at the Vatican Museum, Sisteen Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and then the Colosseum. If visiting do your best to come off-hours and off-season - Italy is truly a tourist trap.
Photos of our adventures
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