I never watched the movie, nor have I seen the musical, but I kept thinking of just the title A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum yesterday when we walked the distance from the Colosseum to the Forum in Rome.
The day started in Sorrento with a breakfast on an outside patio overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. While I did’t make it to the coastline in my swimsuit, I am happy that Cas and I headed to the water and stuck our feet in when we were on Capri. Nevertheless, we said arrivederci to the water and the beautiful views that it brings, hopped in our bus and headed to Rome. We stopped along the way for a little food and a bathroom break, because when we got there, we had a walking tour of the Colosseum and the Forum. There are certain things that give you perspective in this world and make you think of your very small place in history. When you stand in the Colosseum and look at something that has stood for nearly two thousand years, you get some perspective.
I love the safety of a group when traveling to places like these. There are people everywhere, there is lots to take in, and it’s really, really easy to lose your way. The problem with a group, though, is we are not always on the same page. It was pretty hot out, and some of our peers were ready for some air conditioning and relaxation about five minutes into the Colosseum tour. While it lasted a bit longer than that, and while Cas and I could have physically carried on, my attention span is kind of shot, and I suspect his is getting close. We have taken in so much information over the past two weeks that my brain may be rapidly approaching full. It’s going to take a really charismatic tour guide to break through my wall of overload, and yesterday, John Paolo was just okay.
We all got to our Rome hotel at around 4:30 and checked in. The first order of business for me was to wash off my feet and ankles. It’s a simple thing, but it really helps me feel like a human again. I wear very good sandals when walking around in the summer, and Rome isn’t exactly sterile. Soap is my best friend when we get back to a shower or a tub. We spent a little time cleaning up and a just little time just laying flat on our backs and enjoying what has been the best mattress on the trip so far. (That’s been kind of hit-or-miss, and the bathrooms have been pretty interesting, as well.)
Cas and I didn’t rest long, though. Our tour director lives in Rome and said she would be in the lobby at a table answering questions and helping to arrange dinner plans at 5:30, so we marched down to talk with Mizia and ask her where we could go with Jeff and Reema as well as our new friends Nicci and Jon that would be close too the hotel. Jeff took a not-so-funny step on the way to the forum, and he wanted to give his ankle a little break from long hikes, and Nicci had some swelling in her feet that needed to subside a little. Hey- it’s a lot of walking and a pretty good amount of heat.
Mizia did not let us down. She picked out a place a few blocks from the hotel (right across the street from a section of the aincent aqueduct, of course) that gave me and Cas a full meal, a liter of wine, a dessert each and a shot of Limoncello to finish it off for something silly like 65 Euros. With the current exchange rate being nearly one-to-one, it is hard to fathom a meal like that for as low as 65 dollars per person in the US. Italians do food very well, and it doesn’t cost very much at all.
Today, we’re getting a slow start. There is nothing official on our radar until our trip to the Vatican at 12:45, and we slept in for the first time in weeks. I suspect they deliberately design that into the tour so people have a chance to breathe and see just one or two more amazing things before heading home. Cas and I each packed one pair of long pants, specifically for this Vatican visit. We had several churches we saw on the way that had a “no shorts” policy, but they didn’t seem to mind men in longer shorts, and they were cool with me tying a scarf around my waist to enter. This time, there’s no room for error. You have to cover your knees and men are absolutely forbidden from wearing hats. Hey- it must be a Catholic thing. Also, Vatican City is technically another country, so we have to follow their laws and rules. Even if we’re Protestants.
I just hope nothing too funny happens on the way there.
Enjoy some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PR6jn1ZzhDS6cx8q8
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