Mamma Mia!

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Today was my first of two days walking around Rome and it is such an incredible city so far. I pre-ordered a trip from Semester at Sea and it was so worth it because everything was organized ahead of time for us…transportation, guided tours, meals, and hotel.

Day 1
A bus came to the ship and took us on a 90 minute ride to Rome. We drove straight to the Colosseum and got a guided tour by a woman named Paula. She gave us little radios with headsets and walked us all over the Colosseum talking in our ears and telling us all sorts of statistics about how they were able to pack thousands of people into it in a matter of minutes and about the thousands of slaves that risked their lives building it. It is seriously amazing how they were able to build this place without any modern technology. A lot of it has been ruined, but there is still enough there to show how great of a place it was. It has definitely become a tourist hotspot though. Every fifty feet there is a stand selling kitschy Roman statues, mini replicas of all the famous sights around Rome, rosaries, and many more “authentic” goodies. In between all of those stands are all these Italian men walking around dressed up as Roman soldiers charging varying prices for a picture. And amongst them are even more vendors selling paper umbrellas, sunglasses, and hats. It’s quite the production, but I guess it adds to the craziness and fun of it all.
Next we took a short stroll down the street to the Roman Forum. It is so mind-blowing to me how these ancient structures are just in the middle of this city like no big deal. Traffic and locals are just buzzing by, almost annoyed at all the tourist stopping to take pictures every three seconds or taking too long to cross the street in an attempt to take everything in. Anyway, the Roman Forum was the political centre of Rome where senators and emperors would meet to discuss various issues. We got to see a before-and-after picture and it is so sad how the Forum has changed from this remarkable place to basically a bunch of broken columns and rubble everywhere. However, Julius Caesar’s ashes are buried there, so that was cool.
Next we left our guide Paula and our other guide (also a Paula) took us to our hotel. It was so cute! After checking-in, I went out to eat with three other girls. We found this pizza place and had some amazing grub. I had a calzone with mozzarella and prosciutto and an espresso at the end. After a little reposo (the Italian version of a siesta), we headed out to dinner as a big group to a restaurant called Da Meo Patacca. It was awesome! It was all prearranged by Paula and we got a three course meal and some live entertainment. After some yummy pasta, gelato, and wine, we headed out for a walking night tour, stopping at the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. Everything was so pretty at nighttime and there were tons of people out just strolling around and having a good time. At the Trevi Fountain they say that if you throw in one coin, you will come back to Rome; two coins, you will find love; and three coins, you will get divorced…I threw in two, so we’ll see what happens 😊
We went back to the hotel and called it a night. It was a spectacular first day in Rome!

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