Off to explore Roma! We made sure to get off it an early start today since not only did we hope to avoid the swarms of tourists, but also the height of the heat. With all this in mind we went off to the Roman Forum. We walked around with an audio guide shared between us and I tried to imagine what life would have been like way back at this time of ancient civilization. Walking around the hall of justice, baths, merchant shops and many temples transported me back in time. What I found really interesting were the Vestal Virgins. They were young virgins whose one responsibility was to make sure that a flame maintained at all hours of the day. This flame was in the middle of the Forum and it was to represent Rome. So if and when the flame went out then Rome would no longer exist. These ladies were treated higher than nobles and if they were able to maintain their virgin statues when they were at the age to marry then they would be able to be married to nobles. If they however did not get married then they would become an saint once removed of their duty.
We then walked up to Palatine Hill. Again ruins are everywhere, and if this wasn’t impressive enough, behold the coliseum with a view extending out to the far edges of Rome. Up the hill was where they royalty lived, typical to have the city and commoners below. The baths which were the size of about a block were nothing but impressive. Further up the hill was an exhibition hall where there were tiles, and kitchen supples that had been savaged. There was even a film done that showed a recreation of what life would have been like back then, and it further helped me imagine the wonder of the Roman Civilization,
In an attempt to escape the heat that was starting to hit its peak we went to the Coliseum. You have no idea how excited I was! Going up to the main entrance was just breathtaking! It is so much bigger, grander and everything else than I had thought it to be. Walking past the many pillars I learned that over 20,000 animals had been killed in the first month of the Coliseum’s opening. Another interesting fact that I didn’t know is that it used to be flooded and used to host boat battles! I also learned the extravagance that went into having the battles. Their used to be sets with a wide range of wildlife and geographic climates. Apparently the battles use to be interactive with the crowd in a sense as the audience was the one that decided whether or not a gladiator got to live or not. The wealthy of course got to sit the closest to the live action, however it was not the best view. The city folk got to stand up at the top and had a whole view of the battles and they also where able to be covered from the sun. Whereas, those were c,lest to the battles were exposed to the blaring sunshine.
Afterwards we walked past ruins (what else is now in Rome) but these were different as it was a space where stray cats were kept in a shelter. The Lucy’s love cats and foster them back in Edmonton so the visit to the volunteer cat shelter I have a feeling probably made them feel at home. Afterwards we made our was back to the Campo de Flore where we were staying, but in the way we passed by so many shoes shops and yes I may have made a few pit stops but we made it back eventually!
We headed back out when the sun was starting to cool down to the Tiber River. We were covered with a rows of trees that stretched out to follow the water. We followed the river to take up us to the Pantheon. We went inside to St. Peter’s Basilica. This is where the world marvelled as to how to make an open circled roof. Also Bridget was also here for Pentecost and when she was here there were red rose petals all on the floor. These petals are apparently a symbolic representation of all then blood that was shed and to represent sins as well. Together we went to the Piazza Navona where streets performers, vendors, restaurants, locals and tourists lined the streets. We had some dinner and with this being our wifi access time we planned the rest of our time here. We are off to Vatican City tomorrow!