The Big Day. Tour of Palatine Hill, The Forum, and The Colosseum. July 27, 2019

Yesterday was a huge day and I am still tired. The tour started at Palatine Hill. I don’t remember exploring this area when we were here 16 years ago. I am so happy we took a tour. If you just walk around these incredible sites, everything looks ancient and interesting, but when we did this the first time, with no guide, I had no idea what I was looking at. This time, the guide brought everything to life, he was full of a tremendous amount of information that he shared with us. And it was incredible. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, I’m sure I would get so many things wrong, but I will try. Also, I am still processing everything i learned yesterday, it was so much information!

Palatine Hill was so many things, the main thing it was, was the Emperor’s palace. There were many emperors, so I am not sure which emperor built which building. The remains are tremendous, it seems it would take hours to walk from one end of the palace to the other (I exaggerate). The baths were fascinating to learn about. Hundreds of people bathing together, but not just bathing. Exercise was extremely important. Exercising the body and the mind. All the buildings had radiant heat. They were to change temperatures of baths and steams and such very slowly, so no big heat changes. Men and women would bathe together and all of this was purely for good health and socializing. And it was all free! I love learning about this time, before Christianity. I love that they worshipped gods and goddesses. Women did not have as many rights as men, but they were allowed to bathe together, they did not have to be separate. All of these buildings were of the utmost opulence. Marble and artwork, it’s hard to imagine and so sad that everything is in ruin now.

Then the Forum. In the beginning, this area was a flood area. It was full of malaria, although they did not know then that mosquitoes were the cause. Eventually this area was drained and the Forum was built. It was the government buildings. Some temples, but no one lived here. The stones in the walkway are The Stones that Julius Caesar walked on. They are the original stones. This is amazing and it also gives me the creeps.

There is so much more, but I would have to write volumes and volumes. These are the highlights that I remember.

Then, onto the Colosseum. We booked this tour specifically so that we could go down into the underground of the Colosseum where they kept the wild animals: lions, tigers, bears, elephants, ostrich, rhinos. Also, the gladiators. I could feel the sadness, the pain, the suffering down there. It was so real to me. I still feel a deep sadness thinking of it now. The Colosseum was where people went to see people kill and to see them die. To see animals suffer and die. To watch animals eat humans. On one hand, the engineering that it took these ancient people to build the aqueducts, to build these incredibly beautiful, perfect, opulent buildings, to drain swamps, to fill the Colosseum with water - the Romans and Greek were incredible engineers, doing what we do now but with no modern technology. And the perfection they reached is astonishing. Then, these same people, so ruthless and murderous. The Roman Empire conquered most of the known world and took everyone as slaves. To be so intelligent and to lack humanity. This makes me feel crazy. And things are still the same now. How is it the some people are filled with so much compassion for others while others have none? Are we born with the ability to empathize or is it taught to us? This thinking breaks my heart into a million pieces.

The tour was long and rich. By the end, we were 100% saturated and exhausted. It was a hot day and all in all, we walked about 10 miles. There was much crankiness! Much bickering! But we made it to our apartment and relaxed. I napped. Everyone else chilled. I love siesta, you know this about me. It is essential to my well-being.

Dinner was that lovely, long, relaxed, delicious, olive-oil filled, wonderful experience. I found a restaurant near our house, literally 30 meters away, and it was fantastic. It was two sisters. One of them saw Lavi from behind and his long hair, thought he was a girl and said so. Then I said he’s a boy and she went bananas, apologizing and hugging and kissing him. The people here love children. Our meal was wonderful and felt like home-cooking. I had a glass of wine. Antipasti. Fried artichokes! And a delicious chicken dish. Aaron had ravioli. Lavi, pasta. Mayim, lasagna. We were FULL. And happy. Then, Aaron and I left the kids at home and walked around, doing the scene. What is this scene? It’s 11:00 pm and EVERYONE is out walking. Drinking. Eating. So many people! You would never, ever see that in America. I love it!

Today we have the day off from our vacation! We are relaxing. No tours. We slept in. Now we are getting ready to explore the Jewish Ghetto - the oldest Jewish community in the world! The fried artichokes are a Jewish delicacy! I just had them for the fist time last night and they are delicious! Then we will circle around to the Pantheon. We saw it at night, but it was closed. We will go in today. I’d love to see the Trevi Fountain again, maybe we will. It was so crowded when we were there. Yuck. I will let you know!

Going to get dressed and head out now.

Love you and miss you!!!!!

Love, Eden

P.S. There was a thunderstorm last night! It was so great and so creepy! I just kept thinking that I was in Rome, an ancient city, and people have been experiencing thunderstorms here for thousands and thousands of years. Julis Caesar! Augustus Caesar! Marc Anthony! Brutus! Holy shit! America is such a baby!