Day 64: Day in Ruins

The day began with an ominous drizzle. Many of the big indoor attractions are closed on Mondays and I had a few places I actually wanted to see in the rain. As soon as a few drops of rain fall an army of street vendors swarm outward hawking umbrellas at substantial markup, and as more time passed and the rain got harder I soon became one of the few people out without one, which just made them target me more. In total, number of umbrella sellers I was approached by: 16; number of umbrellas bought: 0.

My first stop was the Spanish steps. I don't really even have an interest in the Spanish steps, but somebody had told me earlier in my travels that if there was a drizzle when I was in Rome it was the perfect time to see them. Normally everybody sits on them and they become quite clogged, but when the steps are all wet people stay away so it's a good time to see them. I actually came at them from the top, which was a bit disappointing since I didn't get to climb them - only descend, but in the rain I wasn't about to make another trip to go up them just for the sake of it.

Next was the Pantheon, which is probably the best preserved building of ancient Rome. The reason I wanted to see it during the rain is because of its famouse oculus in the top of the dome which lets the rain pour down into the center of the building. It's a cool effect in person, and hard to really capture with a picture, but I tried my best.

The rain was still coming down and I wasn't quite sure what to do next. I was close to where all the ancient stuff is - the Forum on Palantine Hill and the Colosseum, and I knew I at least wanted to check out the inside of the Colosseum so I decided that was as good as anything to do in the rain. Luckily the line to get in was under cover so it gave my clothes a chance to dry somewhat. By the time I got my ticket the rain had eased off a bit and it was back to a drizzle, so walking around wasn't bad. In addition to just walking around the outside and looking down at where all the underground tunnels were, there was a bit of a museum on the second floor that had bits and pieces found through archeological work and information on the history of the Colosseum and all the mechanics of how things worked. I think that part is the most fascinating, with all the mechanicals bits they had to raise up animals or props from underground in a very sophisticated manner.

The rain had completely stopped by the time I left the Colosseum, so I immediately headed over to the adjacent Palantine Hill. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, other than a lot of ruins, but I loved this area. It's basically walking around a park on a hill, but unlike your usual parks you're completely surrounded by old ruins of walls and pillars as well as plants. I went to the section with the Forum first, then checked out some gardens and just followed random paths to some of the excavated domus'.

I spent about 3 hours walking about, and by the end my feet were getting a bit sore. The actual distance covered wasn't exceptional for my normal days, but I had made the mistake of wearing my sandals and the wet + sandals + lots of pebbles was causing my ankles to chafe quite badly in places. I worked my way back to the hostel in time for free pizza that they give out on Monday and Thursday, and spent the evening talking and eating yet more gelato (my second cone of the day). Debating which of two plans I want to do tomorrow, but in either case it should be a busy day.

(Did you see what I did with the title there? I was implying that my day was ruined because of rain - but no! It was spent walking amid ruins! Clever right? What? Yeah, well you try coming up with an interesting title every single day!)