DAYS 9 & 10: Fearless Gladiators, Loyal Nuns & The Fabulous Francesco

Quote of the days:  “Follow the nuns.” JM as we were trekking through the streets of Rome at 6am trying to figure out where to go in at Vatican City for the Papal Mass.

JM and his girls: Colosseum edition.

VM: Saturday started with another excursion with sweet and energetic Grace to the famed Colosseum and the Roman Forum, which are incredible old ruins right in the center of the city.

There are 80 gates all around the Colosseum.

As on Friday, we were grateful for Grace’s knowledge of the ins and outs of the major attractions here. I’m typically not a tour guide type of person but I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Italy. It is really helpful to have someone who can maneuver quickly through the organized chaos and then share the significance of what we’re seeing.  Those of you who know JM and me know we have little tolerance for large crowds so we ABSOLUTELY feel the extra coin spent on the private tours was well worth the price.

As with the Vatican Museum, Grace geared the tour again towards the girls. Built in 70 A.D., the Colosseum is an awesome structure. It was a gift from the emperor of the time to the Roman people and amazingly, only took 8 years to build, which as you look at the incredible structure is really mind-boggling. It could seat 80,000 people (not quite the Gators’ Swamp, but HUGE nonetheless).

The entire stadium was covered by a wood floor with sand on it, and sometimes
was even covered in water for naval spectacles. Photo creds: EM

We learned that the Colosseum was literally for EVERYONE. It was free to attend and any Roman could do so. Of course, your family’s status and wealth decided if you had courtside seats or nosebleed seats (yep, nothing has changed).

The Colosseum was built for entertainment. It used many of the tricks of the trade from Greek theater, including trap doors from which the gladiators were “revealed” to the audience.

The games were played on a platform made of wood covered in sand.  Today, there is a reproduction of the platform on one side of the amphitheatre and the rest shows the intricate system of tunnels below which housed the gladiators (the performers), the prisoners (the animal bait) and the animals (the starved hunters).

The inner "guts" of the Colosseum was a fascinating labyrinth of tunnels. Photo creds: EM

Trap doors enabled the gladiators to enter the stadium like rock stars.

Another point we found interesting was the gladiators were really revered as the star attraction. They were fully hot shots and it was an “honor” to be selected to be one, even if you knew there was a good chance you could perish. Great gladiators did well financially and were pretty much set for life.

We also learned that contrary to popular belief, the emperor didn’t give a “thumbs down” or a “thumbs up” in terms of whether a defeated gladiator should survive. Thumbs down actually meant put your sword in your sheath to the conquering gladiator and a thumbs across the jugular meant kill the loser. The latter was done if the gladiator didn’t put on a good show or if the emperor was having a bad day. 

Ultimately, it is no different than today’s pro wrestlers except there was a lot more blood spilled.  The successful gladiators would put on a great show for the masses. When they were happy, the emperor was happy.

The girls were a bit appalled to hear about the part of the show where they would set the hungry animals out with the prisoners to have some lunch. But I think they were even more appalled when they saw the communal bathrooms. The room housed two troughs on either side of the room with holes on top. You sat with your neighbor doing your business and THEN what appalled them even more is that you went to the center trough to pick up a communal sponge for wiping. No one said they were the most sanitary society!

Sample of how the Colosseum bathrooms worked.

One side of the Colosseum has lost its outer
rings. Thankfully, a private benefactor (the founder
of Tod's) is now paying for the preservation
of this incredible landmark.

JM tries on the emperor role at a private
amphitheater made just for him.

Proof that Mussolini did SOMETHING
good in this world.

After a couple of hours at the Colosseum, Grace took us to see the Roman Forum next door. We apparently have Mussolini to thank for these incredible ruins. It was under his direction that these were excavated in the hopes of unearthing the glories of Rome.

Flowering all over the Roman Forum, Grace
explained this type of tree is called the
Judas tree as it is believed to be the type
of tree where Judas hung himself after
betraying Jesus.

The buildings at the Roman Forum were essentially the societal and governmental heart of Rome. It is where the Senate met and then would announce to the people what had been decreed.

Again, it is hard to fathom how much history is in one spot, but once again, we found it fascinating to see the ongoing theme of Christianity overtaking paganism. The Forum has many temples and sites built in honor of the Roman rulers of the times, but one particularly struck us since a church was literally built INSIDE the temple and is functional today. Not only was the history behind it fascinating, but it was also something to see how the earth has literally sunk all around it. It is no longer possible to enter through the front door.

The church that ate a temple. Photo creds: EM

Caesar burned here. Photo creds; EM

The last things at the Forum that caught our attention were two nondescript mounds that I think many visitors might miss.  One was the site were Julius Caesar’s body was cremated by his stepson so the public could see. The second was a round clump of bricks known as the “bellybutton” of Rome. The Umbilicus Urbis Romae is where the saying “all roads lead to Rome” comes from as distances to other places in Italy were measured from exactly this spot. And you also see where we get the word umbilical!

All roads lead to Rome!

After the Forum, Grace shepherded us through the crazy streets of Rome which is a cacophony of people (mostly Italians often in rapid conversations or lost tourists with their noses in guide books), motorcycles/scooters, buses and cars.  There are very little official crosswalks with pedestrian lights, you just sorta step out onto the marked paths and hope everyone will stop.  And, surprisingly most do. And unlike most major cities I’ve visited, even the taxi drivers respect this crazy system, rarely honking their horns or cussing. In fact, to me, they have the most incredible patience.

Julius is probably turning
in his grave.

On our way to see the Panthenon, our last stop on our morning tour, Grace pointed out the spot where Julius Caesar had been betrayed by his Senate and stabbed. Now, I expected this to be much more of a “dramatic” spot, but in fact, it’s kind of just “there” right in the middle of a busy city block. And the fact it is housed next to what Grace called a cat colony which seems to be our equivalent to a Humane Society, made the girls 

The place where Caesar lost his life is
a cat hang out.

much more interested in the kitties all lounging in the area, rather than the historical significance. Personally, I thought the whole thing pretty funny and I think this must be Caesar’s punishment for bad deeds.

After several miles of walking and trekking up & down steps (of which there are MANY in Rome) Grace finished our tour at the Pantheon. This is yet ANOTHER Roman temple that was converted into a basilica. This one was interesting because first, it was originally square and then converted into a round building with an incredible open rotunda and second, it is where Raphael (the Renaissance artist) is buried.

By now, it was 12:30pm and we were eager to lunch. Grace had recommended an off-the-beaten-path genuine Italian trattoria, but unfortunately, they were booked solid and couldn’t accommodate us. 

Delicious and charming.

Luckily, that led us to consult TripAdvisor and we found an awesome trattoria on our own right in the middle of a bunch of tourist traps. We had a wonderful meal over a couple of hours.

Awesome birthday linner!

Thankfully, our apartment has a cool,
100-year elevator to get us to our
5th floor home away from home.

After going home for a quick change of clothes as the weather here has been yo-yoing between hot and cold, we went to check

Emma racing up the Spanish Steps.

out the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, so did a bunch of other visitors and we decided not to hang out too long. Instead, we decided to find the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks (yet another shout-out to Ryan Glidden!). This is a church near the Spanish Steps that is definitely creepy yet fascinating as it houses the bones of about 4,000 Capuchin monks who died over 300 years. 

While they don’t allow pictures, it is basically five mini chapels covered in human bones which have been artfully arranged.  Like I said, creepy but fascinating. This visit could perhaps diminish HM’s fascination with the macabre. For someone who loves ghastly shows like Criminal Minds, she was not digging the bones. Emma just thought it was weird. And it was.

And since it was my birthday, the family indulged me in one last stop that was on the “had to be done” list – seeing the famous “Mouth of Truth” featured in one of my all-time favorite movies, Roman Holiday.

The Boca della Verita has a superstition attached to it that says that if you tell a lie and put your hand in the mouth of the monument, it will grab your hand.

In the movie, gorgeous Gregory Peck played a prank on the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. The script called for him to put his hand in and take it right out, but instead Gregory acted as if the mouth “grabbed” his hand. Audrey’s reaction was real and alarmed as she thought he was being hurt. It is really funny and one of my favorite movie scenes.

Still one of my all-time favorites.

All walked out by this point, we took a taxi to see this landmark and we are sure glad we did. Housed in front of a church, it was closed when we got there, only visible behind a gate. Neither JM or EM would get out of the taxi to even see it, but HM and I wanted to and were SO DISAPPOINTED.  It 

The real Boca was not as cool as we thought it would be.

was just not as “cool” as we had pictured it. Ah well, just goes to show that Hollywood still creates movie magic.  And despite it not being what we thought it would be, we were still both glad we had seen it.

The evening ended on a major high note as we stopped by our market to get a few items before going home and got to meet the sweetest Bassett Hound ever -- Oliver. Just 8 months old, Oliver was absolutely the cutest thing ever and of course, made us all pine for our menagerie back home, although Oliver was about three times the size of our Millie!

All in all, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my 48^th birthday.

Oliver topped off the birthday evening. His paws were something else.

The view as they were setting up.

The view as the umbrellas came out.

Today started early, leaving the apartment at 6am to head to St. Peters Square. We arrived fairly quickly as we are staying close by and prepared to stand with all the others who were there to see Pope Francis deliver Easter Mass.

It was an incredible mix of people from all over – Italians, Americans, Brits, etc. And more nuns and priests than we have ever seen in one spot.  In fact, we have run into nuns and priests everywhere in Rome as many come in for the Easter celebration.

The time passed quickly as we talked to a couple behind us from Poland. It was interesting to hear their perspective about Europe, America & their reverence for Ronald Reagan and his influence on the fall of Communism.

Nuns were everywhere.

As we stood in line, a light drizzle started.  The forecast had called for rain at 11am but a dry early morning. Clearly, they were wrong.

At around 7:30am, we all started moving forward. When I say all, I mean all. We literally were moving forward like a wave as the security let us in little by little through the security gates.

We moved in a fairly orderly way to the same seats in front of the Vatican that we had seen on Friday as they were making arrangements for the mass. We were blessed to be in seats that were about 500-600 feet from the altar. Really close and really incredible view. And then the rain started in earnest. Thousands of ponchos and umbrellas made for a crazy, wet and cold scene & we still had more than 2 hours to wait for mass!

We huddled down like turtles and did our best to stay under cover of our cheap Big Lots ponchos that were almost melting with the freezing water assault (note to self: next time get the expensive Coleman kind!).

At around 9:55am, the mass started with a beautiful Rosary broadcast via the speakers. Strange as it may sound, it was very spiritual to sit, hunkered down with the pitter patter of rain on my head, and the Lord’s Prayer’s and Hail Mary’s in Italian.

We were afraid this would be the only
view of Francis we would get.

Afterwards, the mass began. Everyone craned to see as priest after priest came out, but we couldn’t see Pope Francis. We found out this was because he was high and dry sitting under the massive Vatican door.  Our only view (which was also obstructed by umbrellas and people standing on chairs) was on the large screen.

We figured this was just the way things were. Either that, or he didn’t want to get wet. But, luckily, after the gospel readings and the prayer of the faithful, the man himself made his way to the altar.

But luckily, we were wrong. Photo creds: HM

The Catholic rock star made his way to the altar. Photo creds: HM

It was truly a religious rock star moment.  And guess what – the rain stopped. The umbrellas went down, the ponchos were taken off and we just were able to see the father of the Catholic Church say mass. Even in Italian, it was cool.

Priests with their detail making their way to give Communion.

After the Eucharistic blessing, an army of priests, chaperoned by security, made their way down to our area to give communion.

It was really something as it was a bit of organized chaos to receive it. At one point, HM was being muscled as someone made her way to the front of the line and it was a nun! Luckily, HM didn’t deck her before she turned to look.  I told her later that maybe the nun felt she had worked harder for that Eucharist and was not leaving without it.

Mass ended peacefully and many people chose to go. This was lucky for us as this was when Francis went down to his Pope-mobile for a swing around the plaza. HM ended up being about 10 feet from him as she moved closer to the barrier and we were about 20 feet from him.

He is truly a Catholic rock star. Photo creds: HM

It was really something to experience the people’s love for him. They clapped and waved and told him how much they loved him. I was fascinated by the conflict I believe Pope Francis must feel about this “rock star” adoration. On the one hand, as an intelligent, logical man, I’m sure he can see how this is good not only for the Catholic Church but for Christianity in general as it brings people to the Church.

On the other hand, being a Franciscan priest who takes vows of poverty and service to God would be typically uncomfortable with being the center of this fervor.  He would prefer that fervor be directed at God. But I figure he figures it’s all part of the job.

Getting ready for the blessing. Photo creds: HM

Nuns making sure they got the "shot."

Security detail was all around.

More priests than we've ever seen.

Even though we were really cold and wet, 
we were SUPER grateful to have seats.

All in all, it was an experience of a lifetime. While the rain certainly dampened the beginning of it, we all found it to be amazing.  We feel incredibly blessed that we were able to be here to experience it.

Veils were a special gift from Nana Donny.

Soggy and wet after the final blessing, we left with thousands of others from the Vatican. It was a fairly orderly crowd and we were happy we were staying nearby and could get to hot showers.

We ended up having a delicious linner (lunch / dinner) a block from our house in a local spot recommended by our landlord.  It was a beautiful day. We hope everyone's Easter was just as blessed.

Tomorrow we head to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii.

HM: After meeting up with Grace again yesterday, we took a quick ride to the impressive 1^st century Colosseum. We toured the massive monument where I was astounded by the beautiful and long-lasting architecture. As we left the Colosseum, we head to the Ancient Forum. Again, I was impressed by the architecture.

Grace providing a Latin lesson.

Thanks to Grace I now know how to read a little bit of Latin such as SPQR which means Senate and People of Rome. This was like the first slogan of Rome, meaning the Senate and people of Rome were unified in whatever they did.

We then got to see the Pantheon that I was excited about because of my love of Greek mythology. The outside structure was impressive – the gorgeous dome and beautiful marble columns leading to the entryway. We saw how much Rome has risen since the building of the Pantheon, and then we walked inside.

The first thing that caught my attention was the large hole at the top of the Pantheon. Since there are no windows in the building, it’s the only possible way to let light in once the doors were closed. Now you might think this would be a problem when it rains, but the Romans created their own drainage system. The floor is dome-shaped similarly to the roof so when it rains, the water is either captured in the middle drain or drains out the sides.

The view of the top of the architecturally amazing Pantheon dome.

What disappointed me was that the Catholics had changed it to a basilica honoring the saints and Mary. Don’t be worried Nana Donny, I have a reason. The Catholics have 250 churches throughout Rome and I just wanted to see what one Pagan church looked like with all the Greek Gods that I have studied. But it still was beautiful.

Grace was beautiful in and out.

I was sad to say good-by to Grace. But after lunch, we were able to try yet another great gelato place that she had recommended.

To end the day, we went to see Franciscan monks’ crypts. Initially, I was not a fan, but after reflecting on the visit, I think it’s pretty cool what they did.

All in all, it was a great day.

Today we woke up at 5:25a.m. but it was totally worth it. After standing in line for two hours and sitting in freezing rain for another 2 hours, we had a beautiful mass with Pope Francis. The sky cleared up the second the Pope went to the altar.

While I was going to receive Communion, I could feel someone shoving my arm. As I turned to see who it was, I shocked to find out it was two nuns who were running to receive the Vatican Communion. But, of course, I let them pass without even giving them a little shove back.

JM giving the verdict for the cow he was about to devour.

After the mass, the Pope drove through the crowd in his little Pope-mobile where I got a video and picture as I was standing just 10 feet away.

Needless to say, it was worth freezing for Papa Francesco.

Afterwards, we went home, cleaned up and went to enjoy a delicious Easter lunch at a local restaurant. I confess I had a yummy American cheeseburger with homemade fresh cut French fries.  Just what I had been craving.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Easter.

VM NOTE: EM has gone to bed!

Random pic of the day:

Even dogs love gelato in Italy!