Roma: Citta' Aperta

Day 3 – TUESDAY

Long version: We got a later start in the morning, which was very nice. We went down to the Roman Forum again, but this time we actually got to go inside the grounds and check out the ruins. We had semi-formal class on some dejected-looking rocks and talked about what the Forum looked like in its hey-day. We spent the morning exploring the ruins. I think everyone, especially Talbot’s wife Sandy, is a little of afraid of me now because it was so hot that day and we kept stopping in direct sunlight to talk about things so by lunchtime I was tired, hot and sweaty and really hungry. Let’s just say I had a little diva moment. I was strongly advocating a lunch break. And by strongly advocating I mean I was about ready to start threatening anyone who stood between me and food. They all think I’m a little crazy. And they’re right. After we ate lunch, though, I was way better. Afterward some of the girls came up with an irritability scale for me: “on a scale of one to Arethra, how black are you right now?” like that Snickers commercial.  Anyway, I went from Arethra to Oprah after lunch, so all was well. We were done with the Forum for the day and our passes also let us into the Colosseum, so that’s where we went after lunch. They’re right next to each other. So instead of just oogling at the outside of the Colosseum we got to go inside and see all the stuff. The stuff was basically just the ruins of the stadium. The floor has been removed so that you can see down into the rooms that were under the arena. Oh, fun fact: the floor of the Colosseum was made of planks of wood that were covered in sand. The Latin word for sand is “arena,” and thus the modern usage of that word to represent any kind of athletic stadium was born. Cool, huh? The inside of the Colosseum wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d imagined. The outside, of course, is so distinctive in its architecture, but the inside was very plain and mostly brick. Man, is it huge, though. We were free after that, so we went back to the hotel to rest for a little bit, then I went out with Audrey, Olivia and Allyson back to the Trevi Fountain. I did the whole “throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain” bit, which is supposed to ensure that you will one day return to Rome. Of course, I am returning to Rome on Nov 16, so I guess I just wasted that 20 cents or however much it was. From there we were going to go back to the Piazza Navona, but ran out of time. Instead we stopped by the Pantheon again before heading back to the hotel where we had dinner, followed by a short lesson on John Keats.

Short version: Roman Forum, Colosseum, diva moment, Trevi Fountain