Roman Holiday Part One- Ancient City

I’ve already explained to you my love of cemeteries. It is that same pull towards the old, decrepit and abandoned which draws me towards very old, forgotten buildings or ruins. Stonehenge, Anasazi Cliff Ruins, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, I can not resist the richness, the romance and mystery which surrounds these sights. They might be the biggest tourist draws in the world, but I can’t help but feel there is some special meaning reserved, just for me. Maybe I’m just full of myself. Anyways, this love for the ancient is part of why I absolutely adored Rome. Like London, it is a city with illustrious past, and even more so then London, thousands of years of history have been preserved concretely, making the entire city a living monument or museum. Loved it.
I knew Rome was impossibly vast, and that there was just no hope of covering it all in the three days we were to spend there. We decided to devote our first day primarily to ancient Rome; The Coliseum, the Forum and the Pantheon, all conveniently grouped near each other in the southern part of the city. And what better place to start then with the blockbuster attraction of Rome, the Coliseum? I knew it would be impressive, but wow. Dating from 80 AD, it wasn’t the largest Roman amphitheater, but it was the most durable, it is still in impeccable condition, two thousand years later. Its image is known by all, but you don’t really get a feel for the scope of it until you are actually inside. Inside the structure there was fabulous exhibit on Greek mythology, which contrasted interestingly with the roman temples of the forum, visible just outside.

The weather in Italy had finally taken a turn for the better, it was sunny an almost warm, the perfect day to wander among the ruins of the Palatine and the Forum. Palatine Hill was once the poshest neighborhood of ancient Rome. It’s now a gorgeous park and collection of ruins; we spent quite some time soaking up the majestic pillars, the beautiful orange trees and the feral cats skulking everywhere (descendents of roman god cats?). Eventually we descended into the Forum, the ancient center of Rome, home of its temples, markets and meeting places. Many of the structures, like the House of the Vestal Virgins, are rubble now, but there are still some spectacular temples almost whole. Particularly memorable were the stark pillars of the Temple of Saturn shooting defiantly up into the air. Just to walk among these ruins and envision what once was, made the whole trip, the whole study abroad experience, entirely worth it to me.
Rome can be dizzying to navigate; it is so huge, and so frenetically busy. A new church or ruin or monument around every turn, it would be easy to wander for days. Another item on my Rome agenda, one that drove my travel mates crazy, wasn’t a flashy temple or ruin; it was tucked into the eaves of a small church. If you know me at all you know that I am crazy about Audrey Hepburn, I couldn’t visit Rome without paying homage to at least one scene from Roman Holiday. It took a couple hours, but I finally tracked down La Bocca della Verita, the Mouth of Truth. Here I am trying to reenact one of my favorite moments, a shame Gregory Peck didn’t show up though…