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Rainy and cold in the morning, the day turned clear-skied, but chilly

in the evening. So, in late fall outfit, I toured Rome today.

This city is like, as touted by a brochure, an open-air museum. You

just can t take pictures, you need to make a movie. Everything, is

old, antique, epochal, dated, historical.

Should I really detail all the places I visited? Should I confide

in you of how much a refresher history course (Junior High all over

again) on Rome this trip is giving me? Should I explain Rome, its

significance, its importance to us, Westerners?

Nah! You would not be interested in the speech of Marco Antonio, the

inspiration of Shakespeare, the burning of the city in 63 AC, or the

rape of the Sabines women.

But in case you were bad, bad, bad in high school, and have forgotten

the names of seven hills between which the original Rome was built, I

will remind you as part of a selfless public courtesy: Capitoline,

Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, and Palatine.

Of course, the brothers Remus and Romulus (yes, the ones nursed by a

wolf) started the entire Roman construction project on the Palatine

Hill. Much later, politicians in robe fought with their verb on the

Capitol. Now you understand why they call the Congress site in

Washington, Capitol Hill. Ah! Ah!

Don t tell anyone: I could not see the hills for real. I kind of

shook my head and yeah-yeah my guides, but these hills are

currently lost in the modern day skyline. You do have to climb

somewhat to get to the Temple of Saturn for example, but in good

modern English, no one would call THAT a hill. A-ny-way...

Did you know that the Coliseum, where the gladiator battles took

place could accommodate 55,000 people? Wow! In year 63 (AC, not the

year JFK was shot, idiot), that must have been just about the entire

population of Italy.

I walked down the path followed by the victorious Roman legions. I

walked under a variety of arches. I saw the place where the real Ben-

Hur raced his chariot against Massala s, and the forum where Julius

Caesar was killed for talking bad about Saddam Hussein.

I visited Saint Paul s basilica, where I learned the difference

between a basilica and regular church (Do you know the difference?).

I ended my day at Piazza di Spagna, with an overpriced dinner (sea

bass) at one of the many late-starting ristorantes of the via del

Corso.

My goal was to eat a pizza in the shadow of the Coliseum, so I can

tell my daughter (if ever she gets to be born) that I ate a pizza in

the shadow of the Coliseum. Cool dad that would make me, isn t?

Guess what, I have yet to find a pizzeria in the shadow of the

Coliseum!

Today, a visit to the Pope: Vatican City...

Post-scriptum: Sorry, I can t find the apostrophe on the this italian

keyboards...

(The Traveller, Saturday, Nov 9, 2002)

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