Cheers from Scotland: Finally in Rome!

On Thursday, Kristen and I woke up early to catch our train to Rome. When I boarded the train, I started crying because I was leaving my parents (how typical I always cry). Kristen and I got in to Rome at 10:55 and were extremely excited but rally nervous to be on our own in such a big city especially one that is known for pick pocketing. Once we arrived, we got our metro tickets that we used to get around the city. We then found our hotel fairly easily. We almost had to ask for directions but we got there by ourselves! It was a good thing my mom got us a map of the city or we might still be there right now. We wanted to check in but we arrived prior to the check in time so we had to leave our luggage in the main hallway of the hotel. We took all of our valuables with us but left some cash still in our suitcases. Of course this would happen to us. We were so worried about getting our stuff stolen and now we were forsed to carry our passport and everything with us in our purses. We caught the metro at the Rome Termini Station and headed towards the Colosseum. When we got off, we walked up a couple of stairs and the Colosseum was right in front of us! It was incredible. We were seeing some of the oldest and most famous monuments of all time. We grew up learning about the Roman empire and now we were here! It was so surreal. Right was we walked into the piazza a tour guide stopped us and asked us if we wanted to go on a tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palentine HIll. What sold us on it was the opportunity to skip the line at the Colosseum. I don't know if he was lying to us but he said it could take up to an hour and a half to get through the line. The guy that sold us the tour then became our personal photographer and took our pictures outside the Colosseum! For about 45 minutes to an hour, a lady talked to us about the history of the everything and showed us pictures of before the places got ruined and then what they looked like now. You really have to use your imagination because most everything is in ruins. The Colosseum held up the best but everything else just looked like a bunch of rocks. We then went into the Colosseum where they used to have gladiator fights. The stadium is just like present day football stadiums and used to hold up to 70-80,000 people. In its day, it was called the Flavian Amphitheatre because the Flavian family commissioned the huge stadium. Once Christianity took off, gladiators stopped fighting and hte stations of the cross were held there instead. Half the side is now gone because of an earthquake and the sun wearing it down. The marble is also gone because people looted the stadium and took the marble to use on their homes after Constantine banded the games. The floor which was originally wood and sand is gone and now you can see the basement where they kept the animals that were taken from Africa. The stadium was a place for the death of gladiators but also 100,000s slaves died while building the stadium. It stands about 50 m high and 70 m wide. It is three floors with the first floor being for nobles, the second for middle class and the top flor for lower class.The games were free therefore everyone could afford to go. The upper class would sit on marble seats and could carve their names into the seats to show wealth. Around the stadium are Roman numerals for people to see where their tickets were and where they would be seated. They were very organized and operated like present day football games.

The Forum was where the Romans would go to meet and learn the news of the empire. There were temples and bascilicas which were not churches but places of politics and business. It also holds the remains of the Temple of Julius Cesear who was cremated after his death by the Senate. Statues remain in the bathing area of hte vestel virgins (vestel virgins are now like present day monasteries). They were chosen at the age of 10 and spent ten years in training, tens years as a vestel virgin and ten years teaching the upcoming girls. The entire time the women must remain celebate. At 40, they could choose to leave and that is where the phrase "life begins at 40" came from. We also learned the meaning of other words as well.. Sincere comes from being made totally out of marble and not out of fake marble. Foster parents came from the Shepherd who took care of Romulus and Remus. They were sent down a river because their mother was a vestel virgin and father was the God of War. The temples in the Forum were used for sacrafices. People of upper class would go to the temple and ask the priest a question such as "Should I go invade the other town today?" The priest would then go sacrafice an animal and look at the liver, If the liver was healthy the answer was a yes and if it was unhealth the answer was no.

We walked forever to Palentine Hill which overlooked the Forum. This is where the emperors would live. It hold the remains of the house of Augusto.

View of the Forum from Palentine Hill

View of the Colosseum from Palentine Hill

Kristen and I then walked to the Pantheon. On our way to the Pantheon we walked by the Italian capital building which would be the equivalent to our White House. Here is also the eternal Roman flame which is guarded by guards at all time. The Pantheon is huge. The columns are so thick you could probably fit 6 of me in one of the them. We got gelato and ate it by the Pantheon on the steps of a fountain. We met some students from Greece and they told us we looked like Europeans because of the way we were dressed and our big eyes. They also thought all Americans women were blondes, big boobed and blue eyes. They thought Kristen was Italian and I was Spanish. We then walked to Trevi Fountain. We threw a coin in the fountain and made a wish. We sat there until it started getting dark and we then walked back to our hotel. Luckily our bags were not stolen and everything was still where we left it. We got dinner and also gelato. Yumm. I had a really bad tan line after Thursday. I wore a low cut dress and had my lanyard around my neck. So I had a dress line and two one inch strap marks from my lanyard. Also on my back I had a line from my purse. Hey I wont complain! At least the sun gives you color in Italy unlike in Scotland!