Rome

The Eternal City has the most startling contrast of the ancient coexisting with the modern.
And how could it not?
Rome was the center of the world for hundreds of years, so it wasn’t surprising for Sam and me to pass contemporary street shops on our way to the massive Coliseum.
Rome has shown how to tastefully incorporate old with new.
Because we were staying in Rome for four days, Sam and I bought a Roma pass for 25 euros apiece that allowed us to get free entry into the Coliseum, the Palantine Hill ruins (where the Roman emperors lived), and museums along the Appian Way (one of the first roads built by the Romans leading north from the main city), as well as free travel on the subway and city bus system.
Since we had the Roma pass, we dodged the long line to get into the Coliseum and headed straight in.
It’s not that hard to imagine streams of Romans walking up to the Coliseum like today’s football fans heading to watch an NFL game.
Like those NFL games, Roman attendees were assigned to specific sections to watch the action. The rich and affluent enjoyed seats closest to the ground while the poorer and lower classes got stuck in the nosebleed sections.
The similarities end there.
Even though class and social status divided the Coliseum seating sections, all tickets were free.
And the events being held weren’t merely games, but life and death situations for the enslaved gladiators.
We discovered through information posts inside the Coliseum that the nosebleed sections could get almost as rowdy as the main event taking place far below.
Ancient dice were found that people used for betting on which gladiator would prevail, and graffiti found on upper portions of the Coliseum steps suggested fights would break out during betting sessions.
Walking in and around the Coliseum was surreal, but how incredible it would be to go back in time and attend one of the events during the height of the Roman Empire.
The Palantine Ruins were astonishing, too.
Some buildings were dug at least 10 feet into the ground, making enough room for a four-story home.
Nothing was too extravagant for the Roman emperors I guess.
Sam and I also visited the other main sites in Rome: the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the Pantheon, though we didn’t stay long because the crowds of other tourists were overwhelming.
We also were a little put off by the number of street vendors at the Spanish Steps.
An old guy tried shoving a rose at Sam while she was taking a picture, and wouldn’t leave us alone until we headed up the steps.
I’d forgotten my sunglasses and mistakenly made eye contact (the cardinal sin when it comes to street vendors) with a guy selling purses. He started speaking English instantly, asked where I was from and then tried to do a “magic trick” with a piece of string meant for my finger.
We left the Spanish Steps as soon as possible.
The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel was a much better experience.
Because we happened to be in Rome on the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel were free to the public instead of the normal 15 euro fee.
The museum is only open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and we weren’t the only ones who knew about the free Sunday.
We arrived at the entrance, or the line stretching from the entrance, at 7:30 a.m. and were still 200 yards from the door. We found out that the American couple, who were first in line, arrived at 5:30 a.m.
We waited two hours to get in, but it was well worth the wait.
The Vatican Museums house much more than the Sistine Chapel, although that is its crown jewel.
They also have numerous artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome that bygone popes demanded be housed within their confines.
It’s probably debatable who had more power, the ancient Roman emperors or the Roman Catholic popes.
The Sistine Chapel is a breathtaking sight.
Since we got in free, Sam and I purchased audio guides for the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.
Despite the mass of people mostly standing shoulder to shoulder looking in wonder at Michelangelo’s masterpiece, Sam and I found a seat along a wall, sat for 20 minutes and really examined the Sistine Chapel paintings while listening to the audio guide.
You always hear about what Michelangelo had endure while he painted the ceiling and later the back wall. But you can’t get a real appreciation for his work unless you are standing directly under it.
As remarkable as the Sistine Chapel was, though, our most peaceful experience came during our trek up the Appian Way.
The Appian Way is removed from Rome’s city center and not directly next to a subway stop, which means that the place is relatively free from the throngs of tourists.
It appealed to us instantly.
Along the way, there are two churches that provide entrance to the nearly seven miles of catacombs that exists underneath the Appian Way.
We picked the Church of Saint Sebastian and delved deep underground to see the ancient Roman turned Christian tombs. The Romans first used this site to house the cremated remains of their dead. Later, the Christians came and buried their dead here because the Roman Emperors wouldn’t allow them to bury their dead inside the inner city walls.
You must go on a guided tour to see the catacombs, which is a good thing because it’s truly a maze underground.
From the catacombs we walked a newly discovered Roman bathhouse along the road.
Two men were still performing excavation work on the structure, which had black and white mosaics on the floor. The Appian Way took us on a 3-mile walk back in time.
The last site we visited was St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest and most grandiose cathedral in Italy. The day we visited was the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. At the entrance to the Basilica a couple of men greeted us and asked for donations. It was for the Pope for his charitable works.
It almost seemed like a slap in the face to be presented by so much gold and marble and then asked for money to help the poor. As much as the Basilica is the most gorgeous and ornate church in the word, we still couldn’t help but leave wondering how a pope, who’s supposed to emulate Jesus and live a life of poverty, can reside in the Vatican and worship in the gold-plated St. Peter’s Basilica.
It seems a little contradictory.