It's my 100th post!
The plan for our first full day in Rome was to wake up at 8 am and hit the town but when my alarm went off we could hear the rain so we stayed in our beds a little longer. At 8:45 we finally got up and attempted to check out of the hostel.
Because we were adding Stacy for the next two nights we had to check out and check in again. When we attempted to check out they wanted to see the booking confirmation again. I showed it to the front desk worker and he noticed that the booking we made was not for the Alessandro Palace Hostel but for the Alessandro Downtown Hostel. Oops. They wanted to charge us for the four bedroom that we stayed in (which was more than the eight bed we had booked at the other hostel) but one of the hostel clerks took pity on us and told them to only charge us the original amount.
After working that out we headed into the streets of Roma. It was still raining and I had an umbrella but Brittany had left hers in Dublin. Lucky for her, there were umbrella vendors every two meters asking her if she wanted to buy one. They would seriously just pop out of nowhere. Eventually Britt decided that she needed an umbrella and stopped by a stand to get one. She asked how much they were and the vendor said 4 euro so she said she would take one. I at this point gave her a death stare that indicated that she should never take the first price and told the vendor that we were going to look at other places. As we walked away he screamed “3 euro” and I turned around and said “2.50.” He smiled and said sure and Britt got a deal on her umbrella.
Our first stop was the Colosseum. We took some pictures there and then walked down the street through the Roman and Imperial Forums on our way to the Pantheon. We also stopped at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva on the way, which was built in 1280 and raised over an ancient temple of wisdom (hence the Minerva part). And they were even having a wedding within the church which was a slice of life to witness.
Ruins of the Forum
Roman wedding
The Pantheon is an ancient pagan temple that was converted into Christian church in 608. It had very beautiful marble inside and an dome, the highest masonry dome in Europe, with an opening in the center to let in the light and give it an etherial feel. Raphael's tomb is also in the Pantheon, carrying the inscription "Here lies Raphael, whom nature feared would outdo her while alive, and now that he is gone, fears she, too, will die."
Raphael's Tomb
After taking in the Pantheon we went to the Piazza Navona before meeting Stacy back at the hostel. The Piazza Navona is the biggest square in Rome and contains three fountains, one of which is Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers. Unfortunately, the fountain was partially covered up by walls but I still saw some of it.
Brittany and I then headed over to the Alessandro Palace Hostel to meet up with Stacy who had just gotten into Rome. After stowing her bags in the hostel we headed back to the Colosseum. Brittany and I had already seen the outside but we wanted to go inside. When we got there a woman approached us about getting a guided tour of the Colosseum. Because it was "Cultural Week" we didn't have to pay admission and therefore we thought it would be a good idea to use the money we saved to get a tour that explained the ruins. After all, to the untrained eye ruins just look like ruins. Max was our guide and Roman, although he talked in a monotone and wasn't the most entertaining. He did, however, say the movie Gladiator was very historically accurate.
There were men dressed up like gladiators outside the colosseum whom you could pay to take pictures with. One of them took a fancy to Stacy (because he liked her hair) and pinched her cheek and said "I like you very well." Needless to say, we spent the rest of our time at the colosseum trying to avoid him.
Roman numerals above the gates at the Colosseum.
The Colosseum was finished in 81 AD by Roman slaves. One of the major points that Mac had was how many thousands of animals died at the Colosseum for show. Thousands could be killed in a single day and then their meat was sold outside the stadium. Exotic animals were also often brought in including lions, giraffes, and crocodiles. He also informed us that gladiators often chose to fight and were very famous, and that they Colosseum was never flooded for marine battles. I feel as though I have been living a lie.
After spending some time in the Colosseum we headed towards the Trevi Fountain. On our way we got our first of many gelatos. Brittany and I had already walked by the Trevi but waited to throw our coins in for when Stacy was there to share it with us. Legend says that throwing a coin in ensures a quick return to Rome. I hope it doesn't matter the value of the coin because I only threw in ten cents. While we were sitting there a man with a magnetic pole came in and fished out some euro coins from the fountian. Profitable-yes. Classy-no.
The Trevi Fountain was my favourite site in Rome. It was so big and the water was a beautiful aqua colour. Also, the fountain is literally built into the building, where even the windowsills are rocks that turn into the fountain (it's kinda hard to explain). I just loved it!
Stacy, me, Brittany
Tossing my ten cents in
The Spanish Steps crowded with tourists.
The Spanish Steps was next on the list of places we had to see in Rome. According to my guide book we came at the perfect time of year because all the of the flowers were in bloom. We walked around there and then were fairly tired and wanted to get back to the hostel. Stacy had been up since very early due to her early flight and we had to check into our hostel and get our room.
After checking in we went to a small Italian restaurant near our hostel. I wasn't very hungry so I just got some bruschetta, which was again delicious, and olives. And that's the end of day 2 in Italy.
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