Rome – day two

Hmmm, this was a tough day. Blisters. I think (hope) all our travel Karma is spent after yesterday’s hiccups and today’s. Things started reasonably well. We’d decided to do the Colloseum and the Roman Forum today – and we needed to get to Statzione Termini to nail down tickets for Monday’s day-trip to Pompeii, so there was a bit to do.

Piazza Navona is a bit of a way, transport wise, from the action. Walking was out of the question after the foot pain that I (at least) was developing. We thought about a taxi, there’s a rank just down the road, and nearly did, but the Tourist Information booth beckoned as we thought busses would be a much cheaper option. Hmmm. We ended up talked into a double-decker hop-on-hop-off style ticket, good for the whole day – and while that bit worked ok when it worked, we originally got sent to the wrong stop and killed an hour waiting for a bus. Once we realised our plight and sorted our problem – the tourist Info guy was out by about 300m, we were on the bus and away. Free (cheap) headphones and a plug to stick ‘em in – only (of course) they were intermittent. When they worked they were pretty reasonable and the info was kinda cool as the bus wove around and about a bunch of stuff we’d not have seen otherwise, like the big shopping area – DG, Prada, etc, thank God Mik didn’t want to get off the bus – the Tiber and a few other bits and pieces that were in the book but not on the list.

Finally we arrived at the Colloseum and jumped off. There were probably even more tourists around than the day before ( the lines were longer) but no protesting (I suspect the protesters had decided to hang around a touristic the place up a bit – lots of them were Italian). We bypassed the Colloseum first up, knowing most got there like bees to honey, and made our way to the Forum. First, Palentine Hill – one of the seven hills of Rome, indeed the one where Romulus and Remus were said to have been suckled by wolves (Romulus killed Remus and founded Rome – or so the story goes [I don’t really know – you should talk to Indi for chapter and verse]). Up we went to view the huge and impressive ruins of the houses, nay mansions, of the various Caesars who lived here – and they lived lavish indeed. You had to use a bit of imagination to see what the various bits and pieces might have once looked like, but there was still PLENTY to give you clues.

I have to admit I was suffering here. I’d developed three blisters, little toes and big toes, and walking was becoming painful. Usually it’s me and one or other child setting a cracking pace and Mik much more sensibly smelling the roses – but this time the roles were somewhat reversed. Still, all that mountain bike racing has rather taught me to suppress pain to a certain extent – so I kept lappin’.

From Palentine Hill, we dropped into the Forum proper. Temples a plenty - senate houses - colonnades, arches, domes and pillars – it’s amazing. Combined with the Colloseum, Palentine hill and Trajans Market, the Forum would cover an area about the size of the ANU campus – and it’s all old. We took plenty of opportunities to, “pull up a ruin” and have the odd rest as we wove our way down to the street. Again, Indi was a font of knowledge on this arch and that temple, and both her smarts and the immediate ancient environment were very very impressive.

So were the prices we were charged for four Panini and four drinks. A$60!! The guy was reaming us, but there was little we could do. One kinda has to come to terms with it. From the fact that non-EU children have to pay full price for this and that exhibition, while EU kids are free – to the fact that the cabbie does half the trip on the higher tariff, then adds a bit just for fun – one just kinda has to accept it. Doing this stuff is expensive.

But I digress. It was kinda nice to slip pass all the punters queuing for the Colloseum – the Forum ticket covers it as well, and we picked up the slick trick of doing the forum first as a good way of defeating the ticket line. It’s another impressive building. Like a stadium of today, one is hard pressed to remember that this was all going down just under 2000 years ago. They had all sorts of shows – mostly killing things – but it was impressive. And, one gathers, not unlike the movies – though we’re constantly reminded that Christians weren’t actually killed here (other places, sure – but not in the Colloseum. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Vatican in the not do distant distance…?) The stairs, for my little blistered feet, were killer – but had to be done. As one of the guides suggests, looking down from the top tier (well, second tier – the top tier is either closed or gone due to either earthquake or penny pinching Popes who didn’t want to pay for marble when they had a good pile in town already) – um, looking down from the top tier one only needs to imagine the tourists in teeshirts as Romans in togas to get a sense of the place in it’s heyday.

Done for the day, all that really remained was to hit the station for Eurostar tickets to Naples (we wanted to reserve seats together – travelling with four has its drawbacks). We dismayed at (yet aonther) queue – but Mik spotted a ticket machine with the Es logo on, so away we went. I’d heard good things about sorting tickets through the machines, and had tried but not been able to do Eurostar tix – seems I was using the wrong machine. Trains are stored in Italy. More on that tomorrow.

Tickets secured, it was hop back on the hop-on-off bus, we thought to retrace our steps as evening fell over the eternal city – only to be told they ended in a couple of stops an we’d be hoofing it agian! (oh, my achin’ feet) Sigh, there was nothing for it but to set off through the tight and twisting streets, fortified with a good dose of gelato. Sasha had been desperate to get to the Trevi fountain – so we made our way past that landmark – alongside a few thousand other touirists, lovers, sleazy dudes, trinket salesmen and suave police (long hair and designer sunglasses). We tossed the requisite coinage, “to ensure a Roman return”, and limped on. From here we weren’t exactly sure where we were going – but Rome’s a bit like that. You kind of make your way through the tiny streets, orienting yourself at the odd piazza before diving back into the labyrinth that’s been two thousand years in the making. Without sore feet and the hordes of tourists I’m sure I could kill days just wandering around. But by this point all our still jetlagged carcasses wanted was our cozy little apartment, some food from the deli on the ground floor that Mik whipped into an edible storm – and bed.

Sleep was going swimmingly – well, as swimmingly as it does post a half-globe relocation - until about 3am. I must have been only dozing, because I suddenly knew we were in an earthquake. The bed was shaking, the lights were swaying and the building was doing a little shimmy. It probably only lasted about a minute – maybe less, but having been through a couple in Indonesia I knew exactly what it was. Some of the locals were up to speed too, it was only minutes before muted conversations broke out between neighbors about the terrormoto.

It wasn’t till next day that we found the quake had been centered on L’Aquilla – some distance to the north east of Rome – and that it had been fairly bad for them. Even typing this, some 18 hours after the quake, with the TV showing live vision from the area (much more intense than we’d seen on waking), we’re not totally sure what the details are, given the lack of English language media where we are. But it doesn’t seem to have slowed the Romans down too much.