Woke up this morning at 9 to the clamor of tourists outside... that and Derek telling me to get up.
We didn't really have a plan for today (when do we ever?), so we wandered in the general direction of the Roman ruins.
The first amazing sight of the day was the Vittorio Emanuele Monument. The sun was beating down on us, so we bought a couple of "hats" from a street vendor. Mine was like Gilligan's, only green; Derek's was an umbrella attached to a head harnass. Kind of funky looking.
The monument was huge. It is almost, if not, the tallest site in Rome. (Except for perhaps St. Peter's Cathedral.) We climbed its many steps in order to view the splendid city of Rome.
Right behind the monument are the ruins of the Roman Forum. We had seen them the day before, but today they were open to wander through... so wander we did. We tried to stick as close as possible to the many tour guides about.
A football field away is the Colliseum. How can one miss it or not be captivated by it? It is truly awesome, despite the fact that over the years many have stolen from the stones that compose it. We spent lots of time inside, imagining ourselves in ancient times, watching gladiators battle (just like Maximus!).
We finished at the Colliseum at 5, tired and hungry from all the amazement. We walked back quite a distance to our hotel, where we asked the owner if there was a movie theater around. Sure enough, there was, so she gave us a map and directions.
Upon reaching the highly anticipated theater, we discovered that it was closed. Hmph. There was a pizzeria close by, so we sat and ate in frustration. In fact, the pizzeria added to our frustration because of the slow and indifferent service.
We asked for another movie theater at a news stand, and he pointed us up the street. So there we walked, only to find another closed theater. Hmph.
With feet hurting, and being tired from too much sight-seeing in a week, we crossed the street to find someone to tell us of an open theater, if such a mythical place did indeed exist. A woman at a store guaranteed us that it did exist, and gave us directions. So, off we walked again (and on the way passed the first theater).
Well, at 8:10 PM, I am proud to say that we found the open theater in Rome. So,
at 10, we will see Enemy at the Gates (Il Nemico alle Porte), and relax our poor feet.
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