We’re both feeling the effect of some 24,000+ steps tonight – many of them of the vertical variety. It was a day of walking!

We began at the Casel Sant’Angelo and managed to beat the lines since it was just around the corner from our hotel. Originally commissioned by Hadrian about 120AD, it was built as a mausoleum for his family. It was converted to a military fortress around 400AD and was modified and used by successsive popes as a place of safety, including a hidden passageway from the papal apartments. Once the tallest building in Rome, the only way to see it is via a number of successive staircases. I counted on the way down…there were 200 steps. Some of the rooms have been refurbished as a museum, which was quite interesting. I enjoyed the treasury, a room full of built-in cupboards, moveable chests and other paraphernalia used to house the papal treasures.

From the Casel, we walked over the Tiber bridge to the local bus stop. A short ride dropped us at the Musei Capitolini. The museum dates back to 1471 and most of the artifacts come from the city of Rome. Housed in three different buildings, some two and one three stories tall, there seemed to be an awful lot of stairs. I got lost at one point and had to retrace my steps to figure out where I was. One of the highlights of the museum is a new display area that houses the original equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, thought to date back to 176AD. When they were cleaning it, they realized that at one time it had been covered in gold – some of the gold leaf still visible. In another area was an interesting collection of plaques that have been uncovered as archeological digs have unearthed them. We ate our lunch at the museum before heading off to the Colloseum.

This was our favourite part of the day since it was a guided tour with a great guide, Sarafina. We learned a lot about life in Roman times and how they are discovering new things as excavations continue. The forum was the general business area of the day-to-day life of the residents – market, temples, government buildings, and schools. The Palladine Hill area was where the emperor and his family lived. Most of the landscape looks like ruins, but the guide helped us to visualize the opulence that would have once been there. Italians are experts are recycing – we saw a church that has three distinct levels, nicknamed the lasagna church, as successive inhabitants used the previous buildings for the foundations of their building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colloseum is an amazing building and our upgraded ticket allowed us access to both the floor, to get a performer’s perspective, and the underground, to see where the gladiators and slaves would have prepared for their events…dark, smelly and noisy are just a few adjectives that come to mind. It was built around 79AD and sat 80,000 people. They say they could get them in and out within 30 minutes! The lower level would be for government officials, the second level for the upper class, and levels three and four would have been for the rest of the population. Tickets were free and seats were assigned. Women sat at the very highest back rows (up by the top windows in the picture).

It was almost 6pm when the tour was over and we were both pretty wiped…especially our feet and legs. We stopped for dinner on the way home and I found out that a meat dish doesn’t necessarily come with anything. Fortunately, I’d ordered vegetable soup and since the both arrived at the same time, I just pretended that the vegetables weren’t in a soup broth.

Our last experience for the day was taking the metro back to a stop close to our hotel. Their subway system is quite easy to use, appeared to be very clean, but was quite crowded. Sarafina had told us earlier that they are building a new subway line but they have to keep stopping because they unearth some new ruins. Until they can be excavated by archaeologists, subway construction has to stop. It’s now going on seven years! Maybe the TTC should use this as an excuse for their delays and budget defaults. At least it’s understandable!