Rome: Coloseum and Stuff

Written by Ben on August 25, 2006 |

I made it to Rome Termini station by 12:30 on August 18th. Without wasting any time, I jumped onto the underground metro and headed south to my hostel. I exited at the Colosseum metro stop and– bam, right there– saw the Colosseum. Woah, what a great thing to see for one’s first sight of Rome.

I stood gawking at the Colosseum for a few minutes before snapping out of a daydream, and then set off to find my hostel. The day was hot, the walk was uphill, and I was lost. I spent an hour finding my way, without a map. I stupidly forgot to pick up a map on my arrival, but I found where I was going and checked in; then ran back to the Colosseum… only a 10 minute walk away.

Rome is an incredibly popular tourist destination, and gaggles of tourists cause something known as long lines. I hate lines, and I look for any way to bypass them. Luckily I found a way for the Colosseum: buy the tickets at the Palatine Hill entrance across the street from the Colosseum, next to the forum. Doing this, I bypassed the hour+ long wait in line at the Colosseum’s own ticket office and immediately entered the arena.

Afterwards, I went back to Palatine Hill for a quick walk through. Quick was key, because it was a boring place and oddly quiet for a tourist packed Rome. I was jumpy to get to the Roman Forum and see history. The Forum (and surrounding area) is chalk full of ruins, columns, and temples. The place gave birth to Rome, and an empire that had such great influence on today’s world. And I was fixated there for a few hours. I must admit that this trip has opened my eyes to really understanding the history we learned in school. Before, history was just abstract events and ideas; now history has been made real. I think I found clarity about the world in which we live today.

But the one funny thing I saw in the Forum was at Julius Caesar’s temple… the place where he was cremated and buried after his assassination; where Shakespeare’s famous words were to have been spoken, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him”. Someone has left flowers on the temple mound in remembrance. I had not even considered that someone, in this day, would care to do this.

After four hours of wandering Ancient Rome (including the Ancient Capitol Hill), I head off to the Pantheon. I passed plazas and churches (countless) on the busy streets, trying to follow my map (Rome was a bit disorienting at first). I finally found crowds of people heading in a single direction… and I guessed correctly that they were off to the Pantheon. The temple is quite a marvelous architectural piece of work. I stood in the center staring up to the dome, I had a strong sense of deja-vu… I can’t explain it, just that I was dumbstruck by everything I had seen in Rome so far.

Tired of walking, I took a rest to write in my journal. I got a lot of writing done, but lost my momentum when the host of The Bachelor: Rome stood behind me and started speaking lines for the show. I looked up to see, across the plaza, a film crew and camera on crane. That show is still on-air?! Gawd I hate that show… reality my ass.

So I departed– lest their filming intrude into my own reality any further– down a side street from the Pantheon into a local church. I sat in front of the altar to take in Michelangelo’s Christ Bearing the Cross. Even this earlier work displayed the master’s skill in turning stone into flesh. I could see the beginnings of David.

I wandered around from the Pantheon to find Giolitti’s, a gelateria. Giovanni, from the European CouchSurfing Collective, has said it was one of the best places in Rome. Locals love this place, and it was cheap. I rewarded myself with three scoops: Chocolate, vanilla, and caramel.

I made a quick detour to the Augustus Mausoleum, off Rome’s main shopping drag.

And after a visit to the Spanish Steps, I met up with Giovanni for coffee. The place he showed me used a special secret method for grinding and processing coffee beans. It was definitely yummy, but I couldn’t qualify the exact differences from other coffees. I I was glad to have tried it, but a real coffee lover would have had a richer experience than I.

Anyways, the coffee shop turned out to be a quick stopover before reaching Trastevere where we feasted. The Trastevere quarter has become a trendy place in the past few years out of its once deteriorated state– gentrified. I don’t know too much more about its history, but I know that it hosted a great dinner. Bruschetta was appetizing. It was toasted simply with a good portion of freshly sliced tomatoes. My first course was an absolutely delicious spaghetti dish. It was made with a creamy white sauce, bacon, ham, and eggs. And when I thought I had stuffed myself, a second dish of salted bacon over veal was serviced; but it was the pudding that topped me off. I sorely needed, and made use of, a digestive… a desert wine and cappuccino worked wonders.

After an after dinner stroll through the neighborhood and its local nightlife scene, I somehow found myself back at the hostel… and crashed. I felt like I covered a lot during my first day, and could hardly fathom Rome having more to offer… but silly me, of course Rome had more great stuff to see: Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica were next.

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