The Depths of Despair

Rome awakens from its Labor Day holiday. Gerri and I rise and shine at 6 am in order to have time to meet our Colosseum tour at 8:15. Soon after we cast ourselves into the neighborhood we have chosen to call home for 5 days. We are on Via del Boschetto, a neighborhood of old buildings that, I am  guessing, date from the 1930's. There is a mix of restaurants, boutiques and jewelry makers. While there are certainly tourists, like ourselves, here, the neighborhood is home to many people who live and work in this magnificent city.

The first order of the day is to find a bar. No! Not that kind of bar! In Italy you will find a gelato bar or a coffee bar where you can indulge whichever you like. We head towards the Colosseum which is a 15 minute walk away. As we walk we can see and feel the stirrings of this ancient city coming to life. We  walk up ancient steps, through a tunnel passing buildings housing people, religious entities and government offices. 

We soon find a little place close to the Colosseum where we order our capuchino and a morning pastry. Ordering a capuchino in Italy, is to order the real thing. You don't hear the corporate inspired  mantra of "a venti tepid soy latte " and whatever other adjectives have been assigned by the Madison Avenue types to this staple of Italian culture. Instead you get a cup of caffeine perfection brewed and served by the practiced hand of someone who has grown up with this beverage that is favored by millions of people in Europe as well as in the New World.

After enjoying our morning brew, we hurry off to the meeting place across from the Colosseum where we will meet our guide from the Walks of Italy company. Access to the Colosseum is carefully controlled. Thousands of people line up everyday to gain access to this ancient site and they are only allowed in the main corridors of the site. To gain access to the under ground of the Colosseum you have to engage the services of a professional guide company. We chose the Walks of Italy because we had used them before in Florence and because they are one of the few companies that is allowed to conduct this tour. Hiring a guide has another benefit. With a licensed guide you avoid the lines of people who can wait for hours to purchase an entry ticket to get into most any popular attraction in Italy.

After meeting our small group of 12, which is  comprised of Canadians, Australians, Britons and us, we head over to the Colosseum. Hurrying past the crowds of people who have lined up so early in the morning to purchase their entry tickets, we soon find ourselves heading into the depths of despair that had befallen thousand of people centuries ago. 

As we enter the cavernous bowels of il Colosseo, we are struck with the engineering marvel that this place really is. If you can imagine something so simple as Lego blocks being used to accomplish childhood construction projects, you can get a slight idea of what it took to build the Colosseum. Without all of the modern machinery and technology that is used to build structures today, the Colosseum was built with primitive tools and utilizing the blood, sweat and muscle of thousands of slaves. Archways are constructed with blocks of stone that were carefully cut and angled so that when put in place each block rested against the other to provide the structual integrity to maintain that archway. You can see the aqueducts that were used to flood the Colossuem in order to recreate epic naval battles for the enjoyment of Roman citizens. Even today the Colosseum will occasionally flood during heavy rainfalls with floodwaters coming from those ancient aqueducts. 

Entertainment in those ancient times came with carefully orchestrated choreography. Depending on the theme of the day, gladiators, or wild animals would be quickly hoisted to the arena floor on an elevator that was operated by disciplined slaves. At a precise moment the slaves had to pull on ropes and pulleys to hoist their passenger to the arena floor in keeping with the theme of the show.

Entertainment at the Colosseum was the money maker of the day. Thousands of people would pay to gain entry to witness the act of the day whether it were gladiators fighting eachother to death or wild animals being used as fight opponents or being used to execute prisoners. A successful show would ensure the livelihood of the promoter and the popularity of the emperor. Anything otherwise could have dire consequences.

We finished up our tour in the forum which is outside the walls of the Colosseum. The forum is where the actual populating of Rome began with millions of Romans calling it home. And where the Roman Empire had its roots. Temples were built to honor ancient gods and to assuage the ego of emperors wanting to create their own legacy.

With storm clouds gathering we parted company with the tour group and headed off to find a restaurant for a much needed lunch. Many of the restaurants in Rome have sidewalk seating, in fact the sidewalk in front of the restaurant is every bit a part of their business as is the kitchen used to sustain the business. We sat under a canvas awning to enjoy our lunch as the Roman sky opened up with a deluge of rain that created a river under my feet at the curbside seating. As I lifted my feet from the water I had only one thought. I'm in Rome, I will do as the Romans do, I will mangia mangia!

On the Way!

Three thirty in the morning arrived too quickly for two people who have been attending to last minute preparations for this, our third, trip to Europe. All of the last minute personal chores like hair appointments and finding that elusive must have item to take on our trip take up time and energy. Now to relax on our trip, eh?

After a quick shower, saying our goodbyes to our Lab workers Haley and Jazzy, then packing our chariot for a quick ride to the airport we arrive and wonder what that sea of humanity is doing out there at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am? We soon join the seemingly endless line to the ticket counter. Gerri holds our place in line while I trudge off to do battle with the electrified iron centurions that so carefully guard against unlawful access to the air passenger area.

The first placard on centurion number one says to scan my bar coded confirmation sheet. After numerous tries with the pernicious red light that is supposed to decipher those little bars, I am forced to make a calculated retreat. I turn away, all the while issuing challenges to that hunk of bionic intelligence, I won't let that *^%$@#%% machine get to me! For I am man! I am invincible! And I know how to read the directions that tell me to use my passport if the bar codes don't work! I quickly enter my passport into the scan slot. Machine not co-operating! Try turning it around, still not co-operating! Ok, do I holler, scream, kick that silvery centurion right where the sun will never shine? Will I take the risk of setting off alarms, whistles and bells and have every law enforcement agency pounce on me like some dire threat to mankind's existence? Nope, I'll just turn my passport over. Success! I am who I claim to be and so is Gerri! I won't let a silvery, electrified hunk of metal get to me! No way! Not me! Just give me my prized boarding passes that I have so earnestly done battle for!

We then meet with a real live person at the airline counter who after carefully looking at our passports and boarding passes cheerily assures us that we're going on a long trip. She then proceeds to place destination tags on our suitcases while telling us, "their going straight through to Rome." I almost waited for her to say, "and you're not, neneneneneneh." Instead she just gave us back our paperwork and wished us a pleasant trip.

Next stop Atlanta for our connecting flight to Rome. What do the airlines have against us on the west coast? We have flown straight through from Europe to San Francisco before. Why can't we fly straight through to Europe instead of making connecting flights from other cities? Don't they like us any more? Oh well, Atlanta here we come.

The plane is a Boeing something or other made to airline specifications of passenger seats so close together that a sardine would get claustrophobia. Seriously though, I love flying with my knees caressing my ear lobes. Really, I do, just ask me.

The plane taking us from Atlanta to Rome is an Airbus A-330. I think the French builders of the Airbus received their naming inspiration from travelling on the public transportation lines of any major city in the world. Who said the French don't have a sense of humor?

The flight takes us an agonizingly 9 hours after which we land in Rome at 7:22 am. First stop is passport control where a bored, disengaged border officer stamps our passports, then sends us on our way to find our luggage and then out the door to find our ride. It sure makes you feel important to see, in the mass of humanity that has been disgorged into a confined area, there is one finely dressed gentleman holding up a sign with your name on it. Andiamo to Roma!

The ride into Rome takes us through areas that we have never seen before and finally to our destination in Ancient Rome where we have rented an apartment for our stay. We are met at the door by our host Giuseppe Peltrone. Giuseppe shows us to the apartment in this ancient building that has had some major improvements made to it, such as an elevator! Our third floor apartment is pretty much bare bones, quite unlike the last apartment we rented here, but it's clean and just as important, it's central  to everything that we want to see and do.

So after settling in, taking much needed naps. We headed out for dinner and then to calculate our route to meet for our first tour of tomorrow. The underground tour of the Colloseum! We're looking forward to that tour and to what other adventures or misadventures we may find ourselves on this trip. 

But first we need a good nights sleep!