06/03/22 Rome

Today is the last day of the official tour! So we were out by 9 am again and walking around the city. Giuseppe told us that about 10 miles of Roman wall still exist here, and part of it was just across the street from our hotel.

He also said that Italy has a lot of types of police: finance police, road police, and another one I don't recall.  The road police seem to be the butt of several Italian jokes and he told us a couple:
- The red stripe on their pants is to make sure they put them on right side out. 
- There are always 2 together; 1 who can read and 1 who can write.
All this, and they have to drive a funny little car, too!

There are a lot of fountains in Rome, most of them sponsored by popes. The fountain water flows down from the Apenninie Mountains and is drinkable.  These fountains are always open to release the natural water pressure. As long as you get the water directly from the tap, it is safe, cool, and delicious. 

Giuseppe also said the roads are made of cobblestone that are from volcanic rocks.  Sand, not cement, surrounds them and keeps them in place. This makes for very good drainage but they can be quite slick.

The Pope's apartment here used to have a view of a plain wall.  The Pope didn't like that and asked for something nice, and 30 years later he got Trevi fountain! The fountain was always lovely but it became famous from Hollywood movies. The proper way to toss a coin is to hold it in your right hand and toss it over your left shoulder. Each Monday the fountain is emptied and the coins are gathered to pay for the fountain's maintenance and charity. Currently it generates 13,000 euros a week!

We stopped by the Spanish Steps again - still full of tourists taking photos of themselves.

Giuseppe said that the Italian government has more than 300 parties, and no government ever lasts the full term. And that Rome has two embassies for every country, one for Italy and one for the Vatican.

He told us that to many people in Rome, traffic lights are just decorations.

And that Cappuccino is only drank in the morning.

The oldest McDonald's in Italy is in Rome and is still corporate owned. Guissepi recalled that when McDonald's first opened, they had it decorated like ancient ruins and the servers were dressed like gladiators, which as a child he really enjoyed.  

He also told us that there are about 15 obelisks in Rome, brought in as prizes of war. What do you do with that many obelisks? Eventually they decided to place them all over the city to indicate the sites of major churches. 

Now, finally, it was time to visit the Coliseum! We got on the bus which took us across town and down to a lower-level parking deck, then walked upstairs, outside, and down a couple of blocks to this amazing sight:

Matay was our guide again; he gave us a lot of information that I don't remember.  I do recall that most of the gateway arches that lead inside are numbered but four are not, and those were the gates for important people. Gladiators were arraigned in classes and there was rules about who fought who. And the holes in the walls were caused by vandals scavenging the rebar that was inside. Yep, Romans used rebar to strengthen and stabilize this. Inside we look down into the "basement" because the wooden floor is long gone. Now one end is partially covered by a small area for tourists to stand on; that wasn't here the last time we visited. 

Sometimes it seems weird that people are visiting and taking selfies where so many people fought and died.

The construction is amazing, though, and I like it when something old survives the modern need to replace and refurbish everything.

The "good seats" with names inscribed on them are not as accessible as they were in 1999, but they do seem to be tidied up a bit. 

They have opened a new area since we were here - the bathrooms. There would have been running water flushing through this channel all the time, and sponges on sticks for wiping. 

Outside it was easy to see where the outer ring used to be, before earthquakes took most of it down. 

As we left we could see the Arch of Constantine  It was covered with scaffolding the last time we were here, so it was lovely to be able to see it now. Guiseppe called those tall pine trees rounded off at top "umbrella trees". 

I still like the arrangement of Italian Cypress trees and ancient columns. They go so well together. 

After the tour our little group of six went out on our own again. We stopped by a McDonald's for a restroom break and discovered it's really large, with multiple floors. And they serve great looking pastries.

The streets are usually narrow and are always crowded with cars, people, motorcycles, and delivery vans. It was surprising that we never saw an accident the whole time we were there. 

For lunch Randy had a Greek salad and I had a fruit salad.

Glenda and I paid a euro for a restroom, which of course had no seat. 

Cigarette packages here have photos of premature babies and cancer victims on them, just like in Mexico. 

Glenda supplied a lot of things today: meds, Kleenex, water flavoring, even tuna.

We really had to watch where we were going; sometimes it was impossible to see that there was a big step down!

We first saw the "handsome priests" calendars in Venice, and they are for sale here, too. They don't call it that, of course, but every month's photo is of a really nice looking priest so...

Travertine marble has been used a lot here but it has to be cleaned a lot. For example, by the time they finish cleaning St Paul's, they have to start all over again.

Randy found the spot where the four rows of columns line up. It doesn't photograph well but it really looks amazing!

At the end of the day I was tired so when Giuseppe took everyone out to dinner at San Marco, I went back to the hotel. When Randy returned he brought me some really great pasta from the restaurant. The gang went up to the roof for drinks, and I went to bed.