A funny thing happened on the way to....

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...
We discovered that the forum is now only available by ticket purchase. A few months ago the LA Times had run an article on Roma that mentioned this, but there was (of course) no mention of this minor detail in any of the guidebooks. Which left us a bit perplexed and turned around looking for an entrance on a hot, dusty Sunday morning in the midst of thousands of other tourists in Roma. We found the line (of course) and proceded to wait for our presumebly, hopefully "E-ticket ride" entrance tickets. It took about 45 minutes, during which: A) an Italian family cut in line in front of us and it took everything in my power NOT to say anything rude and be THAT kind of American {turns out, they cut into the wrong line anyway and they, in fact, waited needlessly in front of us to get in since they already had their tickets! Ah...karma}; B) Colin commented how similar the line felt to Splash Mountain, and didn't we wish we were going on that instead?; and C) Edwin is happy anwhere there are small rocks to play with.
We managed to buy our 5 tickets, Edwin was free, and we proceeded to make our way up Palatine Hill. [NB if you are an EU citizen and under 18, most attractions around Italy are free. Cool for them, bummer for us large-familied Americans...) By this time it's getting close to noon, as driving into Roma, finding the line and waiting in line have taken the better part of the morning.

A note about driving in Roma: it's not as bad as I thought it would be, given that we went in on a Sunday when the traffic is light and some streets are closed down to cars. However, it's still not something I think I will be able to handle on my own in the stick shift. Brian did famously trying to navigate, drive and avoid being hit by the Italians; I don't know if I have it in me yet to try and tackle this feat. In addition given the Global GPS system's knack for being right only about 50% of the time, I think I'll stick to the country. We did find the parking lot at the Villa Borghese (Roma's Central Park) and found the Metro stop without too much difficulty.

Roma's Metro leaves a bit to be desired. Some trains are air-condtioned, others (very sadly) are not. Julia was a bit disturbed by the mother on the subway begging/asking very loudly for help for her children. She was carrying a sleeping toddler in a sling asking for money and pointing to the bottle of milk she was holding. "What is she doing mommy?" Julia asked me and I told her she was asking for help for her children. To which I REALLY wanted to turn to the woman and say "Your baby would be better off if you breastfed him..." but I don't speak Italian... so I just smiled at her. It's a tricky having our children with us in situations like these. They are teachable moments, but are not easy to explain. We all have the culture shock of being out of our bubble of Santa Clarita, but add that to the global awareness of other languages, sounds, smells and customs, factoring in global poverty can be a lot to take in.

So we start the trek up Palatine Hill, once the sight of countless palaces for roman emperors. I was struck by the heat, the dust, and the general relaxed sense of security among the ruins. Large stones and pieces of columns were everywhere - perfect climbing structures for small boys. We wound our way down to the Forum and we did a fairly quick Rick Steves' guidebook tour; taking appropriate pictures along the way. A highlight for the kids (mostly Ed) was walking along the Via Sacra on the large stones - hopping from stone to stone in the footsteps of Caesar Augustus.
We exited through the Arch of Septimus Severus ("like Severus Snape!") and headed to Capitol Hill. At this point thirst and hunger had overcome us all; one thing about ruins... there's no shade to them. We lined up at one of Italy's many water faucet/fountains. The public water seems quite safe to drink - as we have been drinking it for weeks now and no one has succombed to any intestinal bugs. You just line up with the rest of the people/tourists and fill your water bottles that you make your big brothers carry in the backpack all day for you.

Pizza from the over-priced tourist stand was the menu for us, as we didn't have any energy to find anything else and the colosseum loomed ahead. We actually ate on some steps next to a "Gladiator" on his lunch break - guy dressed up in a costume for paying tourists pictures. The kids are used to this kind of thing, as we see many (usually ragged) costumed characters when we go to Hollywood to see movies. Only one character "statue" truly impressed me: A Renaissance man perched on a box in a completely aged bronze color-scheme. The box matched the clothes which matched his make-up and it looked very convincing. I'd pay just to get a closer look at the obvious art work involved to achieve the effect!

The Colosseum beckoned and we rationalized that we could sit in the shade on *those* steps just as easily as we could stay sitting on the ones we were on. So we headed through the security check line - blessedly faster than the ticket line - and since the tickets we bought for the Forum/Palatine were combo tickets (a 2fer!) we walked right past the LONG line for tickets at the Colosseum: "Mom! It's just like Fast Pass!" Once inside, we walked around - sat on more pieces of 2000 year old columns and once upstairs in the higher level passage ways, enjoyed the lovely breeze that found us. This is how we spent most of our time at the Colosseum. Venturing out in the sun a bit to take in the view, but mostly sitting in the cool shade upstairs enjoying the view (of, essentially, the hallways) from the inside. Ed was content - again - to find many small rocks to play with, throw and balance on his legs while sitting on the crumbling steps to a closed off section of the loggia. Aidan purchased a miniature WORKING catapult pencil sharpener from the book shop. The little rocks Ed was playing with fit PERFECTLY inside the catapult. 3 guesses on how long Aidan had it before it was taken away by Mom... and the first 2 don't count.

Our visit was brought to a rather quick end when Ed announced very publicly that he had to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW. "But don't worry, it's only number uno." So we found the bathrooms and everyone did their thing - with much complaining. I don't have a lot to say for European bathrooms. Many in the women's rooms don't have seats. Julia isn't impressed, to say the very least. I'm just happy when it's not a hole in the floor, which we have encountered only once - and she and I decided we didn't need it THAT badly.

We made our way back to the Metro stop via some gelatti ("i" is the plural form of the word in Italian) and a capuccino for me. Always a good treat for us. The English speaking waiter wanted to know if I wanted Italian or American coffee. When I answered correctly (Italian) he said good, American coffee is just black water.

Our Metro Stop was at the Spanish steps and Brian and I pressed the kids to go and see them: much groaning was involved. It wasn't a very long walk, but more walking at the end of the day. At the base of the steps is a fountain that was crowded with people sitting around it. Some had their feet in it. Once Aidan saw this, he got really excited and wanted to do it too. When in Rome.... so we said yes and got some great pictures of Aidan, Julia and Edwin with shoes and socks off, legs dangling in the fountain. The water was freezing they said. At one point, and elderlyItalian lady asked Aidan to dip her hankercheif in the water for her so she could wash some ice cream off her shirt. He did.

Trekked back to the car and made our way back to Rieti. The kids were hungry when we got home, the stores and our favorite pizza place were all closed (Sunday) and so we ended up at the most Italian of places for dinner...
McDonalds.

And when I did the wash this morning, a little piece of the Colosseum fell out of Ed's pocket. Pretty cool.