July 4, 2008

Caesar's Rome

All roads lead to Rome, it is said, and on this day, we were on one of these roads. It took us four hours to drive to Rome from Florence. Along the way, we passed by Tuscany and Umbria. We passed by sunflower fields (like the ones in the movie that starred Sophia Loren) and hilltop towns, and hill farms involved in agritourism where tourists could spend a day or days in a farm participating in farming like wine growing or picking fruits and vegetables, riding horses, tasting honey, shopping, and other enjoyable activities.

We arrived at our hotel in Rome, IL Granario di Santa Prassede, on via di Santa Prassede, 25. This is an interesting hotel. It used to be a granary, hence the name. There is no elevator here as the owners wanted to preserve the antiquity of the place. We had to walk up the stairs to get to our floor, which is the third floor. In Europe, people call the first floor, the ground floor, which is equivalent to the first floor of houses in the States. In this case, our room was actually on the fourth floor. The stairway is quite strange. It has short risers and wide steps and is circular. During the olden times, people constructed the granary stairs in this manner so that the horses that carried the sacks of grain could climb them.

As soon as we unpacked and rested for a while, we went on a walking tour with a local guide. We went to the Coliseum, then to the Roman Forum area, the Palatine Hill ruins, and then to the Pantheon. He also took us near the entrance to the Senate. I could just imagine how the senators debated and formulated laws then. He pointed out Basilica Aemilia, which used to be a Roman hall of justice. I imagined how the hall of justice worked during Roman times—people suing and having court hearings, civil suits, and transacting other legal matters. Later, Christian Rome decided to put this to better use for their worship services.

We walked on the very ground that Julius Caesar used to walk on his way to the senate and on the road where he paraded after a successful campaign. Because I had read the life stories of this charismatic leader, I felt my spine tingle as we stood on the spot where the Romans had held his funeral and be on the site where Mark Antony had delivered his famous speech. We then went to the place where they buried his ashes.

We went to the site where the Vestal Virgins used to live. I came to know about the lives of the vestal virgins from my readings on the life of Julius Caesar. The idea of nuns and convents must have originated from this concept of having vestal virgins, except that the nuns don't have tenures. The vestal virgins had a term of thirty years after which time they could then marry.

We went up to a hill where we had a good view of the ruins of an empire that was once powerful and mighty. One can only imagine the real grandeur of the temples and edifices from the sight of the ruins—the forum, the senate, the temples, and others.

The last stop of our walking tour was the Pantheon, originally constructed in 128AD as a pagan temple. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church used it for nearly 1,400 years. It also served as the tombs of two of Italy's 19^th century kings. Surrounded by the ruins that showed proof of Rome's glory, I felt being transported to that glorious time in Roman history.

Buildings, churches, and artifacts designed by famous architects of history abound. Paintings of master painters were a feast to my eyes and I would want to be in these places for days just to enjoy the lavish art. We all marveled at the ruins but one really has to know the history of Ancient Rome and particularly know the man Caesar to value whatever was left of the ancient empire.

It was difficult to appreciate all the grandeur that was Rome in one or two days, much less enjoy eating in gourmet restaurants. Ron and I would just grab a meal here and there so as not to waste time for there were so many sights to see.

In early evening, our group had dinner together, after which time we went to the fountain of Trevi to toss our three coins for good luck. The belief (or fantasy) is that the first toss would give you luck in falling in love; the second toss would give you the luck of marriage, and the third toss would give you the luck of marrying a Roman. Ayayay.

We then went back to Il Granario so tired from the humidity and from walking. It did not take long for me to fall asleep. Next day would be another Roman holiday.