(Molly) McGulliver's Travels: Roman Soldiers Galore!

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous, sunny, hot day in Rome … and I am proud to say that I got my first sunburn of the season! Woohoo, finally, after several dreary months in Bretagne! And what a way to get a sunburn – touring the Coliseum and Palatine Hill! First we checked out a huge morning market; I’ve been to tons of markets in France, but they don’t compare to the chaos & variety found at a Roman market. It seemed like there were miles of vendors selling everything … several with huge piles of clothing, each piece for a euro!

I actually went into the Coliseum a few years ago, but this time we took a guided tour in English from an Italian. I still have mixed reviews on whether or not I’d recommend these guided visits … sure, you learn a bit of history and supposedly get to skip the entrance lines … but for a price that’s double the normal entrance fee, I’m not sure if it’s worth it. It’s strange because, at least to my observation, there are no “official” tours of the Coliseum and Palantine Hill; rather, there are random locals who have organized tours which operate independently of the Coliseum itself. They run around outside the entrance trying to sell their tours to the tourists, who don’t usually know that they can buy separate audio tours inside the Coliseum for a lot less. Would it be that difficult for whatever organization that runs the Coliseum to just create guided visits included in the legit entrance fee and eliminate the confusion that all of these separate, independent hawkers cause? Anyway, we paid for one of these tours, which didn’t end up being too valuable … and it was only offered in English, so I tried to deliver a rough translation into French for my roommate. Needless to say, I probably didn’t do a great job at this – afterwards she actually said that she’ll probably just buy a book to read a bit more about Rome, the Coliseum, etc. So I effectively failed as a translator. Anyway, we had a good time and it was awesome to be outside all day in this weather! Last time I was in Rome it was cold/rainy, and I caught a guy with his hand in my bag in the middle of a crowded subway trying to rob me … so I guess anything had to beat that first experience! But seriously I really did enjoy the city a lot and now have a much more positive image of it. Aww, cultural understanding, now that’s why we travel :)

"Hey Mom, look what I found!!"