One Last Day

As mentioned before, I made some last minute changes to my accommodations. I had made no plans for most of the day today since I didn’t know how much time I’d lose to hotel/train shenanigans that are now irrelevant. This turns out to be a good thing, since the morning and early afternoon are nice (but hot) weather, and there is an 80% of storms from 3-6.

I research the Mithraeum mentioned yesterday, and while it was free 25 years ago when that guy went, it’s now only accessible as part of a private tour – the version I can find is north of 200 euros. Instead, I head to Basilica di San Clemente where I can walk through at my own pace for 10 euros. And it’s cool in every sense of the word. The temperature is several degrees lower. No pictures again, all my favorite things are in no photo zones.

The alter is blocked off by a gate as people couldn’t stop touching it. The guidebook says Mithraism competed with Christianity, which is interesting phrasing. This implies a sporting event where both teams played by the same rules and one came out ahead. In reality, Christianity overtook those in power, and it became illegal to play for the other team. So, same play book we still see today.

Next up, I take myself on a walking tour to a few other sites, including the truth mouth from Roman Holiday.

The Pantheon is also open today, so that’s another quick stop.

I also find a street artist who paints over cardboard, leaving parts of the original packaging still visible, and find a piece I quite like, though it’s slightly larger than practical. We’ll see if it survives the flight back.

After a little more shopping, I stop for lunch at a random place that does a fantastic carpaccio and has a waiter who flirts with every lady.

I wander around a bit more, but eventually head back to the hotel ahead of the rain. I consider fitting in one more museum, but rather than feeling rushed, I take some time to repack my luggage, and take a few cold drinks up to the rooftop terrace to watch the storm roll in and catch up on writing this blog. It never actually rains, though the temperature plummets. I grab some fast food (https://www.lapiadineria.com/) in the form of a salmon wrap and a nutella wrap for dinner and return to the rooftop for a quiet evening.

And then it’s time for the last item on the itinerary, a night tour of the Colosseum. The starting point of the tour is a little hard to find, but we all manage to make it eventually. We start by walking around a portion of the forum while getting a history lesson, first about everything the modern world has stolen from ancient Rome, but also how everything in Rome was stolen from the cultures they conquered. It’s a pretty cool tour.

At last, we arrive for the 10:30 entry into the Colosseum. We are the last group to go through.

A great tour of the underground area, we get to see where and how props, people, and animals were raised to the stage before heading up to the arena proper. A great way to end the trip, and I'm off to get a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport.

That Time I Went to a Brothel

I get up a little early today to walk 30 minutes to Piazza del Popolo to catch a 7AM tour.

We are headed to Pompeii and the Vesuvius, at least that is the original plan. There's an accident bad enough to back up traffic causing expected delays of close to 2 hours. So we hit the volcano first. That's right, I'm climbing a volcano at noon. Seriously. Again I am glad I did the bare minimum of endurance training leading up to this trip. At least for the first third of the climb, which is the steepest part. Once I get high enough up, there is a breeze and it's actually a pleasant climb. At noon.

There are a few snack/souvenir stands along the way, but no bathrooms. Shade is shade, though, and who doesn't want to slam a Fanta after that climb?

The way back down is actually a little harder since now when you slide, your momentum is in the same direction. It's not bad, though. Second easiest volcano I've ever climbed.

At last we are headed to Pompeii, and I think this may have been the better way to do this trip. The heat is insane, and it's cooler now than it would have been if we'd kept our original itinerary. Before hitting the site, we have lunch at a pizza place. I ask the random group of strangers for recommendations for tomorrow since I have free time. One guy suggests the Mithraeum at Circus Maximus, which sounds like fun. Research for later, when I have better connectivity.

We at last head into the city with a tour guide, and it is eerie how modern the layout feels. You do not need to close your eyes to feel like you’ve been here before. The crosswalks are raised, but still look like crosswalks. The short pillars blocking traffic from public squares are the same as what we’d use today. The little and frequent food shops.

Really, the biggest difference is all the penises on walls and roads weren’t graffiti.

Well, that and the brothel, which is super crowded. The guide assures us many times that none of this is vulgar because the denizens weren’t Christian. I’m down with never again being considered vulgar.

Also, if I test positive for COVID in the next week, I'm definitly claiming I got it at the brothel. After the tour, we head back to Rome, where our route back to the starting point is inexplicably closed. The alternate point is the train station, so I have a much faster walk back to my hotel, but not before stopping for a mistaken negroni (prosecco instead of gin) with dinner.