BigWeather's Blog

We woke up early, about 7a, and headed downstairs to breakfast.  Standard breakfast, however the croissants were amazing.  I asked at the front desk where they got them from, expecting something along the lines of “oh, from the bakery down the street” or “we make them in our kitchen” but instead got “delivered frozen and heated up.”  Well, whatever works!

Finally headed out about 10a (yeah, we’re not the greatest at getting out early), crossing the Grand Canal at the Rialto bridge and heading northeast to the coast of the island.  Along the way we passed many cool old squares, each seemingly with its own church.

We waited a few minutes for the water taxi to take us to the island of Murano, famed for its glassblowing industry.  Along the way we motored past an island given entirely over to a Greek Orthodox cemetery with a nifty church.

After landing we walked up the canal a bit and did some browsing along the way.  As the canal was a bit wider than the narrow streets of Venice we were directly exposed to the sun.  It was unrelenting!  We went into the shop of the famous glassmaker Venini.  We saw a really neat lamp — for twenty seven thousand euros (about thirty thousand dollars)!  Yikes!  We beat a hasty retreat as I was terrified of accidentally knocking over anything in that place.

Walked up the canal a bit more and came upon a clock tower with a cool spiky deep blue glass sculpture in front.  Crossed a east-west canal and past the brilliant Chiesa dei Santi Maria e Donato, a church dating from the 600s (not a typo!) and supposedly containing the bones of a slain dragon.

We ate lunch at Osteria al Duomo Pizzeria.  We sat in the cool (relatively) courtyard behind the restaurant where they grow their own herbs.  We had Cokes and water.  Michelle had a mushroom pizza, Addison a pepperoni pizza, and I a ham and mushroom calzone that was good.  Once again we were charged a cover charge — what’s up with that?

A short distance from the amazing church was the Museo del Vetro, a museum dedicated to the art of Venetian glassmaking.  After a short introduction video (showing different aspects of glassmaking like blown glass, rods, mosaics, and beads) we were treated to a short but very informative and interesting series of rooms.  It told the story of glassmaking from the ancient times in Syria through to the rise of glassmaking on Murano (after burning down parts of Venice one too many times) during the Middle Ages through to the era when Murano was competing with copy-cat manufacturers in Austria and Germany and on through the slump in the early 1800s and the resurgence of the craft in the late 1800s through present day.  What was particularly amazing were the advancements to the art discovered by Murano’s masters like how to make transparent glass (mid-1400s).  Even more interesting is that the techniques would sometimes be lost for centuries before being rediscovered.  There were many neat items on display, most notably a dining room table sized sales display from the 1700s representing a small garden.  Behind the museum was a gorgeous courtyard filled with stonework (crosses, sarcophagi, etc.) from the Middle Ages.

We walked back to our water taxi stop and did some window (and actual) shopping along the way.  Along the way we spotted a boat with a small crane for unloading as well as a UPS boat.  Once back on the main island of Venice we walked back through to our hotel, arriving by 4p and taking a brief siesta until around 6p.

Hopping back on the water taxi (turns out that was a great deal) we went down the Grand Canal and under an old wooden bridge called Ponte dell’Accademia to St. Mary Salvation basilica, or Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.  I was really struck by the design of the church, it looked like it would be home in Instanbul.

A short ride on the water taxi took us to the end of the Grand Canal and a wooded stretch of shore with shops and the like leading to Venice’s main tourist attraction, Piazza San Marco.  Passing under the watch of two statues atop tall columns, one of a winged lion the other of San Teodoro and a slain dragon, we came upon the box-shaped yet very ornate Doge’s Palace.  Nearby loomed the very tall brick Campanile di San Marco.

Next to the Doge’s Palace was the Basilica di San Marco, separated from the Doge’s Palace by the magnificent Porta della Carta.  The basilica practically glowed gold with its mosaics in the evening light.  Red poles with lions atop were in the plaza and directly in front of the basilica.

At the northern end of the square sat the Torre dell’Orologio, an ornate clock tower build in 1499.  Another twenty four hour clock, it was also remarkable as it showed the roman numeral hour and Arabic numeral minute.

As it was later in the evening, about 7p, there was no line to take the elevator to the top of the campanile.  Absolutely amazing views from on top, though sadly I was not up there when the bells rang.  Talked with an older British couple on the way up, they were in favor of Brexit.  Amusingly, the brand of the elevator was “SCAM.”  Not very confidence inducing!

After returning to ground level I found Michelle and Addison and we headed back toward the hotel.  Along the way we found a Chinese restaurant, Tian Jin, and enjoyed some very good food — appetizers of spring rolls and dumplings, sweet and sour pork for Michelle, beef and onions for Addison, and beef curry for me.

Once back at the hotel we debated riding a gondola but decided it was too late.  While Addison stayed in the room Michelle and I went to get some gelato.  Once back at the room we talked with Genetta via Facetime then I blogged and headed to bed.

We awoke bright and early at 6a, packed our luggage, and hauled it downstairs in time to get breakfast right at the 8a opening.  After a filling breakfast we checked out.  Enrico also helped us with our train schedule for the day, what promised to be the busiest train travel day of the vacation for us.  Travel by rail in Italy is pretty easy and fast if you are going up and down the peninsula (say from Venice to Bologna to Florence to Rome to Naples) but going across the peninsula (in today’s case from Riomaggiore to Venice) requires a bit more train-hopping on slower regional routes.  Ah, well.

We walked down the steep hill to the train station and were able to get an earlier train than anticipated to La Spezia at 8:56a.  After a short ride (about seven minutes) we arrived in La Spezia but as I wasn’t sure we had enough time to make the train to Pisa Central Station we waited for the next one that left about an hour later — giving up all of the gains from getting the early train from Riomaggiore.

The train from La Spezia to Pisa had those booths like you’d see in the Harry Potter movies on the Hogwarts Express.  We shared the booth with a guy lugging a skateboard and this other guy that seemed to always be staring at us.  I’d fall asleep and jolt awake and catch him staring.  Don’t know what’s up with that.  I also was afraid we were in the wrong booth as the booth beyond us (or so I thought) had the seat numbers I thought we were supposed to be in.  Addison then pointed out that that was a mirror, haha.

Once in Pisa we got a regional train to Florence.  For regional trains we had to be careful to validate our tickets lest we face a 60 euro fine (each!).  Validation is required as the tickets are valid for 2 months from date of purchase rather than a specific time — handy when wanting a more flexible schedule.  The train was pretty packed and the three of us had to sit in separate booths.  Particularly impressive were mountains on the left (north) side of the train.

Arrived in Florence at 12:40p and got tickets on one of Italy’s fastest trains, the Frecciarossa, for 1:15.  Addison and Michelle went and got us all McDonald’s at the station while I stood with the luggage.  I grew worried as the time approached 1:05p but they made it back, food in hand, with time to spare.  Whew!  We settled aboard the train (getting in our assigned seats correctly!) and ate our lunch.  I had the McChicken sandwich and was so hungry that it tasted great.

The Frecciarossa (red arrow) is a very cool, fast, and comfy ride and had nice clean windows and padded seats.  We went for 2nd class premium (only 5 euros more each).  Screens on the train showed how fast the train was going (up to 300kmh, or 200mph).  The only issue was going into tunnels, particularly numerous between Florence and Bologna, would cause our ears to pop.  The train also made this nifty Star Wars-like laser firing sound when transferring to the high speed track.

As we approached Venice (after less than two hours after leaving Florence) a family from New Jersey was being told by a Italian that they weren’t to get off at the first Venice stop (as it is on the mainland) but rather wait for the second one (Venice St. Lucia).  They didn’t seem to understand or care, so I helped drive home what they needed to do.  Who gets on a train with no idea where they are going?!

Arrived at Venice St. Lucia at 3:20p and bought two day passes (30 euros each, ouch) on the water taxi.  We had read that we’d get our money’s worth and we certainly preferred the water taxi to wheeling luggage through Venice.  Took the taxi to the Rialto Mercato stop, the closest stop to our hotel, the Hotel Pensione Guerrato.  Walking through the market (which was just wrapping up for the day) I saw a neat Venice Vice City-styled shirt.  We’d later see an even neater one in Florence and Genetta got one for me, awesome!  Found our hotel not far past the market tucked in an alley.  In America that’d perhaps be cause for concern but we were quickly discovering that in Italy most every hotel seemed to be tucked away down a side street.

Michelle sighed that the room was on the third floor (well, European second floor) but it was truly beautiful — wooden rafters, a gorgeous glass chandelier, and red-painted walls.  It felt very Venetian, at least!  They gave us a funky key that we were to leave with the desk and a cute fold-up map of Venice to use on our travels.  The building itself was built in the 1400s.

After a short rest we headed out to explore some.  Venice is pretty amazing to walk around.  Narrow streets (basically alleys) that open up to intimate squares (campo) with people going about their business and socializing.  Of course canals also run throughout the city, most are actually quite narrow and not at all like the wide Grand Canal.  Little stepped foot bridges span those canals.

We ate at a restaurant that wasn’t that great.  We had bruschetta for an appetizer.  Michelle had spaghetti and prawns, I had spaghetti alla carbonara, and Addison baked beef steak and fries.  That plus two Cokes and two waters and a cover charge (what?) and that the drinks were super expensive (at 4 euros each) made for a pricey affair.

Full if a little lighter in the wallet we headed to San Barnaba church.  I had this only list since the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade used it as the exterior for a library (the famous “X marks the spot” quip).  Took some pictures and such.  Walked back through the streets as the sun was setting.  It was really easy to imagine the past when the streets were the scene of intrigue and such as the shadows settled in.

Took the water taxi back to Rialto Mercato, passing under the Ponte di Rialto — the Rialto Bridge.  It is the oldest of the four bridges that span the Grand Canal and I am sure it is normally quite stunning.  However it was under tarp (painted to represent what lay beneath) at the time.  That’s not so bad, after all it is important to maintain the landmarks and Trevi Fountain in Rome was absolutely gorgeous as a result of the dedication to maintenance.  What was most offensive was that they plastered this gigantic ad of a stupid looking lady taking a selfie.  Trust me, I saw waaaaay too many stupid people taking selfies with selfie sticks on this trip already and it was still early!

Got some gelato near our hotel.  Michelle had dark chocolate and strawberry, Addison had coffee in a cone, I had coffee in a cup.  Ate our gelato on the fish market steps then headed to the hotel and collapsed in sleep.

 

After a busy day traveling it was only natural for us to wake a bit late, after 8a.  Finally staggered to breakfast about 9:30a in the main office / lobby of the Locanda del Sole — a small room with four or so tables and a bar / kitchenette area that Enrico was busying himself with.  I had croissants with chocolate, toast with jelly, and breakfast tea, all decent.  Headed back to the room and readied to leave, leaving about 10:30a.

Rather than tackle the steep slope down through town and the pedestrian tunnel to get to the train station we decided to take one of the side roads with a number of switchbacks.  What was nice about this route is it led us past the town church and a small fortification that mainly served as a watch post against pirate attacks (yes, pirate attacks!).  I walked around the fortification’s battlements some and took pictures while Michelle and Addison sat on a bench and looked out to sea — for pirates, perhaps.  Next to the fortification was the town’s elementary school, a tiny affair.

Having seen that we continued on down the hill and arrived at the station.  We all agreed that the steep route through down was the way to go — just soooo much quicker.  Stood in line at the ticket office (biglietteria) and purchased three tickets for a single ride for four euros each.  Hopped on the train to the third town (going from south to north with Riomaggiore being the first), Corniglia, as that is the only one not reachable by boat.  Once there we realized we should’ve just used our tickets to go all the way to the fifth town, Monterosso al Mare, as Corniglia was many hundred steps up and we were already running late.  We could’ve taken a bus, I suppose, but all that we had heard was that it was the most miss-able of the five so… we missed.  Took some pictures, though!

Bought three more four euro tickets, this time taking the train to the fifth town, Monterosso al Mare.  Monterosso is by far the most tourist-friendly of them all — being relatively easy to get to and having a nice sandy beach.  It is also relatively flat and spread out compared to the others.  Despite that, however, it still managed to be pretty warren-like and quite neat.  We wandered around a bit, finally choosing to eat at a place called La Beluga Blu.  We ordered bruschetta with tomato, cheese, and prosciutto ham, very tasty.  I can’t remember what Michelle had (sorry!), but my salami and buffalo mozzarella on focaccia was great.  Addison had a burger.

After lunch we wandered around a bit and visited the pharmacy.  Pharmacies in Italy all have these cool animated LED green cross signs.  Headed back to the harbor and purchased three one-way (south) hop-on hop-off tickets on the boat for fifteen euros each.  We waited a bit for the boat to arrive, intending to take it to the fourth town, Vernazza.

Vernazza is often described as the most picturesque of the five towns as it has a small beautiful harbor and a nifty watch tower.  I’d agree with that.  Their gelato, on the other hand (at least at the place we had)…  Michelle had strawberry, Addison coffee, and I mixed the two (maybe that is why I didn’t like it, haha, that’s pretty messed up taste-wise).  While we were eating our gelato we watched some construction going on.  What was cool was that they had this small motorized tread-based thing to haul materials with and used a motor to lift items through the second (third, to us Americans) story window in a bucket.  Vernazza is also interesting in that it is on a peninsula and even deep in town we saw a grotto with water beyond.

Hopped on the boat to Manarola, second of the towns (skipping Corniglia, of course, as it has no access to the sea).  Manarola by far had the coolest harbor features.  Just after getting off the boat (and having the gangplank buck up a couple of feet when I was on it due to a big wave) we went through this narrow cleft in the rock and emerged in the harbor proper (the boat being too big to enter).  The harbor had a few row boats and boats with small outboards in it but by far the coolest thing was a small clear deep cove that people were jumping off of a large rock into.  In addition, a stream ran through town and emptied via a five or ten foot sliding rock type fall into the ocean.  It looked like an amusement park ride.  It being late we didn’t wander a whole bunch there.  As it was near the end of the day there were only one or two boat departures on the schedule and we wanted to be sure and catch it.  No matter, hanging out at the harbor was perfectly fine by us!

Soon the boat to Riomaggiore arrived.  By this time Michelle was feeling a bit seasick so our boat travels could come to an end fast enough.  Got some beautiful shots of Riomaggiore from the boat (and the other towns earlier, as well).  Upon landing we did some menu shopping for dinner but most of the places near the harbor were predictably seafood heavy.  Did take the time to buy some giant one liter water bottles, however, stocking up for the travel day ahead of us, at a small market store.  Riomaggiore (and indeed much of Italy) has many little stores still, with great local produce (unbelievably large grapes) on display in front to draw shoppers in.

Ended up eating at Giammi Caffe.  It was a bit of a cluster.  Addison wanted steak but they were out so he settled for a ham and cheese sandwich.  Michelle and I wanted pasta with mushrooms but they were out of those too!  She ended up with pesto pasta which wasn’t that great and I ended up with ham and cheese tortellini with “meat”.  I have no idea what kind of meat — that matters, people!  While we were there they were playing a TV station with an Italian rapper’s video on it.  Very, very odd.

On the way up to our rooms we got some gelato at Bar Centrale.  Addison, unfortunately, dropped his and declined to get more (we offered, honest!).  Bought some Riomaggiore magnets and headed back to the room.  I got restless and made a solo trip down to the marina shortly before dark.  I managed to see Wales defeat Russia 2 to 0 and Slovakia and England tie at 0.  Once back up I talked with our neighbor Suzzane from New Jersey.  She is traveling about Italy with her sister from Germany.  We mainly talked about travel and she told a neat story about their travels in Croatia to find their ancestors’ town. Wrapped up the day with a small amount of blogging (mainly summarizing the day).

In hindsight I wish we had schedule another day for Cinque Terre.  A truly remarkable place, five incredible towns that manage to exist within — and even enhance — the natural beauty of the place.  Each town (well, we didn’t go to Corniglia but I’m sure it does as it is the hilltop one) managed to feel distinct yet each had the most incredible features, almost as if say the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Walt Disney World was made real.  Honestly, it was almost too incredible not to be by design…

Awoke shortly after 6a and after we all showered headed up to the now familiar breakfast at the Hotel Bolivar.  Another beautiful day, this one meant for travel however.  Checked out of our rooms and grabbed a cab to Roma Termini, the main rail station in Rome.  As it was a Sunday fairly early there was little traffic and even the (we’ve read) normally bustling station was a bit quiet.

Using the Trenitalia (Italy’s national train company) booth I mistakenly purchased tickets through to Torino when we really needed to get off a bit before that at La Spezia.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get a refund / rebook and that mistake cost us almost 55 euros total, but it really was my mistake and one I don’t expect to make again.  Our train was to leave at 9:57a and it was only a little past 9a so I took Addison across the street to McDonalds where he could get some hash browns and a Sausage and Egg McMuffin.

We stood for almost an hour waiting for our train to get a departure platform assigned.  It arrived about twenty minutes late but we finally got our platform.  Had to head through a checkpoint where we presented our ticket then we walked along the length of the train hopping on to a second class car.  Found some empty seats and settled in.  Then a guy tells us we’re in his seat.  Uh, assigned seats?  We had no idea.  Turns out we got super lucky and happened to get on the correct car and just had to move a few rows down, which was great because we didn’t want to have to struggle with luggage.  Michelle ended up sitting next to a pretty quiet man in his 40s or so while Addison and I sat next to each other opposite her.  The main thing was ensuring Michelle faced forward so as to avoid motion sickness.

The train ride was very interesting.  Leaving the suburbs of Rome and heading north along the coast to La Spezia the land was covered in farms and dotted with small villages.  The coast itself was gorgeous and the sea a deep blue.  We passed a castle right on the shore and it was neat to see so many small villages perched atop hills (so as to be easily defended) — a settlement pattern that didn’t emerge in the United States by-and-large as we were never plagued by wandering brigands and the like.

The IC train (a step below the fastest trains) moved at a brisk clip, nearly one hundred miles per hour.  When we paralleled the highway it was clear that we were going quite a bit faster than the cars headed in the same direction.  We only made 10 or so stops total from Rome to La Spezia.  After pulling out of Pisa I saw the very top of the famed leaning tower.  Hopefully we’ll do that as a side excursion once we are in Florence.

Once clear of Pisa the terrain became much more green and lush (as opposed to the ambers and olive greens near Rome) and soon jagged gray peaks were to the east.  Clouds also rolled in with even a bit of rain.  One cloud bank sat right atop a ridge and was particularly pretty.

We arrived in La Spezia around 3p and grabbed a bite to eat at a combined deli / McDonalds.  Addison had chicken nuggets, fries, and a Coke while Michelle and I had sandwiches.  I had a salami and cheese that was quite good (for train station food, that is).  Lugged our luggage up and down stairs switching platforms, bought tickets for the seven minute ride on a regional train to Riomaggiore (remembering to validate!) and awaited the train ride, which proved to be mostly tunnel with one brief view of a beautiful rocky coast.

Arriving at Riomaggiore we set off through a pedestrian tunnel that paralleled the train tracks then emerged in the valley in which the village sits.  Riomaggiore is a village in a very steep valley that used to have a stream in it.  The stream is still there, actually, but now runs underneath the main street.  In the past when the stream was still exposed small arched bridges spanned the stream allowing villagers to cross to the other side.  The tunnel emerged near the bottom of the valley.  As our room was about a third of a mile up the valley we had a very steep climb with our luggage.  Addison was great and pulled both of our smaller pieces while I pulled our larger piece, freeing up Michelle.

Our room was in the Locanda del Sole.  After being seen through a small gate we checked in with the owner, a gentleman named Enrico.  He’s an older man, in his late 50s or so and balding.  He spoke English very well and oriented us to the town — where to eat and where to catch a boat that runs from town to town.  We also met sisters, one from New Jersey and the other from Germany.  Enrico showed us to our room a couple of steep flights away.  Pretty basic but clean.  The tiled floor and orange and other light colors really gave it a Mediterranean vacation feel.  After running through details about breakfast and such he bade us farewell.

Siesta time!  We slept a couple of hours from about 5p to just past 7p.  Headed down (literally!) into the village and ate at a place called the Bar Centrale that was recommended by Enrico as it served burgers and Addison really craved one.  We elected to sit inside rather than in the covered area outside.  Addison had a burger with onion rings and fried potato wedges that he really liked while Michelle and I had pizza — hers Hawaiian and mine salami.  Both excellent and we liked the crust better than previous pizzas that we’d had since arriving.

Grabbed some gelato (yes, I’ve eaten entirely too much of it — but it’s soooo yummy!).  Michelle had strawberry and Addison and I both had coffee.  There were some fairly bitter coffee beans in it that we worked around but the taste of the gelato itself was wonderful.  Satiated, we strolled down to where the tunnel from the train station came through.  We briefly went up an adjacent set of stairs to see a small plaza where youngsters were kicking around a ball.  Not wishing to intrude we went down another set of stairs to the marina.

What a pretty spot!  It is a fairly tiny marina formed by a jetty of large boulders and a sheer cliff wall.  People were leaping off the cliff and into the water fifty feet or so below.  A pirate flag fluttered in the cool evening air nearby.  The buildings, stacked unnaturally on top of each other, appear to tumble down the valley and into the water.  It is an impressive sight to behold!

While Michelle and Addison relaxed on a bench I walked along the south side of the marina and then down a walk and found the village’s “beach” — a patch about fifty feet by ten feet of small rocks.  The vegetation is interesting — cacti thriving all over.

As it was getting near dusk we decided to head (climb) back to the room.  Once there they turned in while I blogged.

Awoke at 7a with an upset stomach.  Managed to eat breakfast at the hotel, this time eating some yummy croissants.  We finally headed out about 10a, walking past (and showing them to Addison for the first time) Trajan’s Column, the Altare della Patria, and Trajan’s Market.  The area had a few more people than we saw during the night but it still wasn’t nearly as crowded as I imagined it would be.

We strolled down the road toward the Colosseum, stopping to take pictures and gawk at the amazing ruins in the Forum from time to time (Michelle and Addison would argue it was all the time).  Arrived at the Colosseum about 11a and found the situation to be a bit confusing.  As with the Vatican the area was crawling with people with official looking badges that offered tours that let you skip the line.  While I have no doubt that is (mostly) true, we had read it was better to go with the official English tour.  Problem was we didn’t see a way to get tickets for that without standing in the long line.  I circled the Colosseum once (and maybe taking a few pictures along the way) while Michelle and Addison sat on some fallen marble column turned bench but failed to find anyone that could help us.

Then I remembered some other advice we had read that a short walk away was the Palatine entrance to the Forum and there a combination Forum + Colosseum ticket could be purchased and Colosseum tours made.  As it was noon we decided to go for a 3p tour.

We wandered around a portion of the Forum for the next couple of hours.  It was amazing and the beautiful weather only enhanced the experience.  We first saw ruins of an aqueduct then the Severan complex complete with a stadium.  They did have some stupid “art” installation with metal words in some of the ruins (like “LOSER” in the stadium) — what the heck is that crap?  Anyhow, despite that, really cool stuff.  There was a vineyard that remained from before the ruins were set aside as a park that was very picturesque.

Heading down toward the Via Sacra we passed the Arch of Titus — very impressive with neat carvings of soldiers and the like.  Just before that there was a spring coming out of the hill in a very cool (temperature-wise) room that was well shaded — a welcome respite from the heat.  Along the Via Sacra were several temples and other ruins, and even some foundations of buildings from 9th to 7th century BC — a time when the area was under kings before the Republic had been founded.

As it was about 1:30p and we hadn’t eaten we reluctantly cut our Forum visit short and climbed to (modern) street level and went to a nearby restaurant that managed to be decent despite being a bit expensive and touristy.  We ate below the main floor and the walls were painted with Roman diners eating and drinking.  What was weird is they were almost depicted as ghosts or at least not wholly corporeal.  I had a salami and provolone panini, Michelle a club sandwich, and Addison a hamburger.

Headed to the Colosseum about 2:30 and got through the line and security check fairly quickly and waited a few minutes for our tour.  The tour guide was a very short Italian woman who spoke decent English.  As there were other groups and the distance from the guide could be a bit far she gave us all little radios to listen to her through.

The tour was interesting.  We learned several things, like eight servants would operate a lift that could lift elephants and other large animals from the holding pens below and onto the main floor.  Also, when people were defeated the spectators would shout “jugular” if they were to be finished (by a swift blow to the neck) or “mitte” (I think, was hard to understand) for mercy.  It is unknown, however, how the Emperor would indicate his final decision — the thumbs up / down is a Hollywood fiction.  Sand was used on the Colosseum floor as it could soak up the blood and be raked or swept away between events.  We also learned that competitors would be in the dark for as many as three hours before being sent to the main floor to fight and it was right there at the doorway that most died as they would be blinded by the sunlight and the gladiators that had already adjusted would mow them down.  Harsh!

The Colosseum was built by the Flavians (three emperors — a father and two sons) on some land that former Emperor Nero owned.  Thus it is more correctly the Flavian Amphitheater but Colosseum stuck.  Building it was a shrewd political move as it demonstrated the Flavians’ power, was presented as a gift to the people, and reinforced their rule (as people could see first-hand how those that broke the law would be dealt with).  The Colosseum held events about a hundred days a year and had a canvas roof that could be extended out over the entire Colosseum with a complex rope system.

We also learned that the Colosseum had free tickets with numbers on them, the numbers indicating which arch should be entered through.  Seating was segregated by class and, for the lower classes, gender, with lower class females having the highest up (worst) seats.

After the guided tour was over we visited the gift shop and walked around a bit on our own.  Pretty amazing that so much remains despite being picked over for centuries for stone (the Vatican raided it often for building material) and the occasional earthquake damaging it.  We also filled up our water bottles at one of the many public fountains on the site.

We finally headed out and back to the hotel by 5p.  Michelle in particular was getting miserable — she and Addison were pretty burnt and tired.  A man doing the “engage in friendly conversation and ask for a high-five before moving in to scam money” on Addison had to be sternly told to leave him be.  Ugh.

After a siesta until 8p Michelle and I headed out for a bit.  Addison stayed at the hotel and slept as he didn’t feel well.  Michelle and I ate at the very near Ristorante Petrucchi where we had phenomenal garlic bread and I had spaghetti alla bolognese (spaghetti with meat sauce) while Michelle had cheese pizza.  Both were great.

Then we walked through Piazza del Quirinale to Trevi Fountain, a fairly short walk from the hotel.  Despite it being very crowded (to be expected, it was a summer Saturday night and the weather was amazing) it was still really neat and relaxing.  Michelle and I sat for nearly an hour just enjoying it and saw a number of people tossing coins into the fountain by facing away from the fountain and throwing them over their shoulder as is tradition.  The fountain, having been through a recent restoration, looked amazing.  We were particularly struck by its size and the little details like carved bushes and little grottoes that really made it seem like a coast inhabited by mythical sea creatures.  Despite being a bit cliche, highly recommended!

On the way back to the room picked up a magnet and some gelato.  Yum!  Got to the room at about 11:15p and read up on Riomaggiore and blogged a bit before bed.