The English teacher in me is trying to avoid overused adjectives, but “old” and “big” happen to be useful while one is in these parts of the world.
Touching old stuff
We touch old stuff all the time here in Rome. Old columns, old bricks, old doors, old headless statues… Jim, Dave, Anna, Tim and Jane found an old column and I made them all touch it at the same time.
Today was Coliseum, Forum and Palatine Hill day, which was more of a relaxed stroll (like visiting the zoo! said Jim at breakfast) than a forced blue-dot march. The guys are posing in front of the Arch of Titus, which is one of the most archaeologically and historically profound sites in Rome as it depicts the sacking of Jerusalem by then-general Titus (who later became emperor). Inside the arc is a scene of Jews being led into captivity, carrying a Menorah. Furthermore, those nasty Romans used the spoils of their conquest to fund the building of the Coliseum — and forced Jewish slaves to build it.
Our stroll took us around the arch to the Roman Forum, which was the heart of ancient Rome. It was the main thoroughfare where triumphal processions entered the city and senators met to make critical decisions concerning the empire. We saw the grave of Julius Caesar and the special area where the “vestal virgins” resided.
Palatine Hill was where the rich folk lived, and indeed if I were a rich folk I’d live there, too — they had the best view.
Finally, we moseyed back to our little hotel rooms and relaxed for a few hours until dinner time. We’ve managed to eat at outdoor tables almost every night so far, as the weather borders between very hot and pleasantly balmy.
Both in Israel and Italy we have had to stifle the American urge to expect the check as soon as we’ve licked our plates. No hurry here; in fact sometimes it’s a bit of a problem to catch a waiter’s attention — and often we just follow the guy to the register and tell him what we ate while he tallies the bill on a piece of paper and gives us a total. We’re getting the hang of it, but have to keep an eye on each other so we don’t walk off and leave our credit cards like someone did tonight.
Anna and Jane found a grocery store this afternoon when they were looking for a special yellow postal box to mail their post cards (which they never did find) so after dinner we went shopping for breakfast and snacks. Jim and I picked out a package of chocolate cookies, but the checker threw them away and wouldn’t let me buy them…presumably because they were beyond the expiration date? I really have no idea, but we are cookie-less tonight.
Tomorrow is Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. It will be more of a march than a stroll, and also a lot of standing in lines, but we’re in bed early, resting our feet and plotting our course.
Anna found a blue dot, right there on the Roman Forum!