Day Two (still)—October 1, 2007
After crossing the border back into Italy from the Vatican City (we didn’t even have to outrun the border patrol or anything), it was time to leave the more religious parts of Rome and get down and dirty with its pagan past.
And speaking of dirty…I’ve seen a few European rivers in my time. The Thames didn’t smell as bad as I thought it would, I was mooned by drunken sailors on the Seine, and the Danube was nowhere near blue in color. But the Tiber? This was the mighty river that spawned the Roman Empire? After all, without the Tiber, no readily available water source, no aqueducts, and you know ultimately modern plumbing has to be tied to this somehow. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) The Tiber just didn’t look all that impressive to me. It didn’t really look necessarily dirty or anything (particularly for a river in the middle of a major metropolitan city), but, I don’t know, I guess I expected something with a little more oomph.
At any rate, our route passed along the side of the Tiber, and soon enough our bus approached the Circus Maximus. (As luck would have it my Mom and I chose the right side of the bus to get a fairly good view of the Circus Maximus, as we didn’t get a chance to stop there and see it up close.) Even if you’ve never seen the 1959 movie version of Ben-Hur, you’re probably aware of the Epic Chariot Race between Ben-Hur and his erstwhile best buddy Messala. I’ve never actually seen Ben-Hur in its entirety…but I did manage to catch the chariot scene one time when Turner Classic Movies was showing it.
It kind of reminded me a bit of the drag race in Grease, because of the sneaky use of modified wheels. Then again, that’s just me.
So, the Circus Maximus. The premier ancient arena for chariot races, and the crowds just loved it. I shudder to think of it as a kind of Roman NASCAR, but…ah, I better not go there, for that way lies madness.
The Circus Maximus isn’t very far from another little place you might have heard of, namely the Colosseum. You pass by a little fancy thing called the Arch of Constantine (which is near the foot of the Palatine Hill, which in turn overlooks the Forum). It’s not everyday that you find yourself in modern city traffic looking up to see a piece of one of the world’s most recognizable architectural wonders sitting right smack dab in the middle of everything. (Well, unless of course you’re a Roman.)
Our walking tour started up again at the Colosseum (and, yes, you could have your picture taken with a gladiator for under 5 Euros if you were so inclined). Because of time restraints (oh those cursed time restraints) we didn’t get a chance to go into the Colosseum itself (where, apparently, several of Rome’s many feral cats live). If you’ve ever been to a modern sports stadium, you’ve probably seen numbers over the doorways designating which section is which. Guess where they got the idea for that? If you guessed the Colosseum, treat yourself to a delicious biscotti.
Across from the Colosseum is what’s left of the Temple of Venus and Rome, reputed to be the largest temple in ancient Rome. I can’t remember if these are Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian columns. All I know is it would’ve looked cool to see them pushed apart in a sword-and-sandal movie.
If you’re feeling particularly naughty, you can see what the back side of the Arch of Constantine looks like from the Colosseum-side.
To the left of the Temple of Venus and Rome, you can trudge up a hill to the Arch of Titus, which overlooks the Forum.
Lots of olive trees in the Forum. Lots.
There was also a strange public fountain next to the Arch of Titus. As it was a bit of warm day, I cast my caution to the wind and drank from it. It was actually pretty sweet tasting water…not in the sense of sugary syrupy or anything like that, but, you know, clean, refreshing. Good. And very very cold. I was sorely tempted to stick my huge bulging head under the fountain, but I didn’t for two reasons. First, I wasn’t sure my head would fit under there. Second, I didn’t want to accidentally ruin my little tourist audio device (there was a 50 Euro fee if any harm came to my little piece of machinery).
Thus refreshed, we made our way back toward the Colosseum and, after my Mom went a little wild at one of the ubiquitous (and practically identical) souvenir stands, we limped back to the tour bus.
Next stop, a little place to toss some filthy lucre...
BEHOLD! THE PHOTOS!
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