Rome Day Two: A Fountain and the Colosseum

Our apartment in Rome is big and equipped with everything we need, except sound-proof windows. All night long, cars and scooters seemed to be zipping right through our bedroom (we are just a meter or so from the street) and at about 6:00am, drivers began honking their horns. On the bright side, the noise helped us wake up and get an early start on the day.

The hop-on-hop-off doubledecker sightseeing bus looked like it would take us wherever we wanted to go in Rome, and our first stop today would be the Trevi Fountain.

We crossed the Tiber River to catch the bus and took this photo of St. Peter's Basilica downriver. The tempestuous-looking skies were an omen of the bizarre weather we would experience today.

The recording on the tour bus gave us lots of interesting information. For example, this ancient structure was low-income housing. And it started raining.

The rain stopped just as we reached the Trevi Fountain, completed in 1762. Taming of the waters is the theme of this gigantic fountain.

A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.

Approximately 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day and are collected at night. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy. However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain.

Some people think you have to throw 3 coins, citing the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain, but in that movie, three different people threw one coin each into the fountain.

Micaela, James and Emilie always say Rebecca looks like a grape in her puffy Dora coat. I just notice her cute smile in this one.

During our junior year abroad (David in Germany and I in France, and we didn't know each other then though we went to the same college), David and I both threw a coin into this fountain.

As we finished taking photos, the skies suddenly started pelting us with tiny snow balls -- a snowy hail if you will. Tourists raced to find shelter under awnings and we laughed and took out our video camera to capture the strange moment. A few minutes later, it turned to rain.

Making our way on foot to the next bus stop with the intention of going to the Colosseum, and following tourist signs instead of trying to read our map, David asked me, "What does that sign say?" I answered, "Piazza di Spagna. I think we need to go the other way." "Wait," David said, "Isn't that the Spanish Steps?" D'oh!!

The Spanish Steps link the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square) at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti above. The Spanish Steps is the longest and widest staircase in all Europe and in better weather is a busy gathering place.

For a while, in the 17th century, the entire Piazza di Spagna was considered Spanish territory. Apparently foreigners unwittingly trespassing into the area could even find themselves all of a sudden to be soldiers in the Spanish army.

Many of the 138 steps were tilted downward with wear. Em would not descend the stairs without holding on to my hand. And the blue skies would not last.

The Fountain of the Old Boat at the base of the steps.

At this point, the chilly weather were starting to get to the kids. Against our better judgment, we had allowed Micaela and James to venture out without their winter coats. My final word on the subject had been, "And you are forbidden from saying the words 'I'm cold' today." The temperature was dropping throughout the morning and as we walked away from the Spanish Steps, James said, "OK, Mom, I just can't help it. I have to say it. I'm cold!" And the rain didn't help.

We decided to get out of the rain and cold and even though the gelati at this little restaurant looked yummy, sandwiches were in order. Our little waitress greeted us at the entrance with a startled look, asking, "Are these all your children? Four? What a bellisima famiglia!" Ahhh, I can check another thing off my list. I would have been disappointed if not a single Italian had commented on our "big" family.

Italy, a country that adores children, has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, even lower than Germany. Our waitress said that she herself is the youngest of five and isn't it wonderful to have a large family? But she went on to explain, sadly, that that is unheard of today. She herself would no doubt only have one child.

During our early lunch, I looked over our map and told David that we were only a block or so from the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception, one of the sights on our list. Five of its chapels were renowned. We could pay it a quick visit and then catch the bus to the Colosseum. Alas, as we mounted the step to the church, we were told by a woman who it turned out worked in the chapels that they had just closed and would not open again for three hours. "I am so very sorry," she told us, but then said, "So, you should take your lovely family and go to a nice restaurant, enjoy a delicious lunch, and then come back!" David and I shared a look which conveyed, "A three-hour lunch? Right....."

Instead, we would get on the bus and go to the Colosseum. As we crossed the street, there was a flash of light followed by a loud, long rumble of thunder. Anyone who knows me is aware that standing out in the open holding onto a metal umbrella during a thunderstorm is one of my least favorite things in the world. If I didn't need to keep my cool in front of the kids, I would have been borderline hysterical. Thankfully, that was the only lightening we saw and we didn't have to wait too long for the bus.

Emilie posed next to this tiny car as we waited for the bus.

It didn't occur to me that this might be a drinking fountain until an Italian man stopped and took a long drink from it. Well, then, we just had to as well. After all, when in Rome......

The Roman Colosseum was completed in 80AD and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

These fellows saw us coming from a mile away. They pounced on us, "You want photo! You want photo!" and when I asked "How much?" I was ignored.


The gladiator in the red cape on the left waved his sword in front of David's....well, below his belt and shouted out, "Ahh...Tonight, barbecue!!"

These fierce gladiators demanded 70 Euros ($90) for posing with us, but when David threatened to delete the pictures, they settled for 10 without batting an eye.

Entering the arena

The Colosseum was covered in white marble in its heyday and there was a wooden stage covering the bottom. A partial stage was recently constructed.

Our tour guide did debunk some myths about the gladiators. It would not have made sense to get gladiators from prisons. The poor men would have been terrified and would not have put up a good fight with other gladiators or a lion. Gladiators were professional fighters who trained for a year and though they were not free men (they were under the control of their trainers and needed to buy back their freedom at the end of their career), they were well paid.

Also, it was rare that they fought to the death. What would be the point? To put all that time and money into training a gladiator only to see him killed during his first foray into the Colosseum? Instead, at first blood, a gladiator would be finished for the day.

The spectacles were put on by the emperor and were free to the public. There would first be gladiator battles, then a break for a snack, then executions (it was much cheaper to execute criminals than to house them in jails), then lunch, then animal hunts and finally, a gladiator versus some poor soul where the emperor would decide with a thumbs up or down whether the loser would be spared.

The doomed animals that fought in the Colosseum were held under the stage for days beforehand, in total darkness. On the day of the games, when they were raised up to the stage, the animals were virtually blinded by sunlight and chained to keep them from attacking the spectators. It was rare that a lion or other wild animal in the arena succeeded in killing a combatant.

The Arch of Constantine, dedicated in 315, seen from the Colosseum

We wasted an hour in the area around the Colosseum looking for another 4-D movie, but never found it. We were all cold and tired by this point.

Em and another little car

We found ourselves in front of the Colosseum once again being assaulted by those pesky little snowballs, which eventually turned into hail and then into rain (click on the photo to see the snow). It had been a strange day.

The kids were just about done. David and I figured they could stand a quick visit back to the interesting chapels and then we'd head home. We were greeted warmly by the lady back at the Capuchin chapels and asked only to give a small donation to gain entrance to the five chapels, where photography was forbidden.

The Capuchin Crypt is the final resting place for over 4,000 Capuchin friars, who died between 1528 and 1870. This room is the Crypt of the Skulls.

The ceiling of the corridor. No one is sure if an artist arranged the bones or if the monks themselves did. The kids were not disturbed at all by the thousands of skulls and bones surrounding them.

Crypt of the Three Skeletons. A placard in five languages declares "What you are now we used to be, what we are now you will be."

The center skeleton is enclosed in an oval, the symbol of life coming to birth. In its right hand it holds a scythe, symbol of death which cuts down everyone, like grass in a field, while its left hand holds the scales, symbolizing the good and evil deeds weighed by God when he judges the human soul.

The nice lady allowed each of our children to pick out a postcard for free (I had to pay for mine) and gave Becca a holy picture card, instead of a rather gruesome picture of skeletons.

Back on the bus headed home, Becca said she had to use the potty. So, right in front of the Vatican, we got off the bus and found a nice warm café that had bathrooms -- and gelati. And we didn't even have to pay a little old lady money to get toilet paper down in the bathroom, as I had to constantly all over Rome when I was last here.

David and I had nice warm cups of cappuccino.

Emilie's gelato couldn't have gotten any chocolat-ier.