Stramba

Stramba

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Dia di Republica...



Wednesday the 2nd of June just happened to be a national holiday here in Rome so when we decided to embark upon a journey to the Colosseum we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We arrived at the Colosseum to find a large crowd consuming the facility. Unable to see the parade occurring below on the lower level, by the Colosseum entrance, we were pretty much dumbfounded by the large crowds and chanting people. Apparently, the dia di Republica is similar to our 4th of July?! They honor all the military, police men/women and firemen(women). Attempting to peep our heads through the crowds and screaming children, we were able to get glimpses of the marching soldiers.
We continued to wait for this parade to end and proceeded to get in line to see the inside of the Colosseum. An hour and approximately 15 minutes later, we were let in to stampede the ticket booths. Italians do not believe in lines either- another thing I have learned on this trip. They have no organized system of lines to get tickets. I watched people push and yell at each other, fighting their way to eventually get in at the same time. It was interesting to say the least. I let my father take charge and shimmy his way to the front.
The Colosseum is overwhelming to see in person. My sister was able to get an audio guide that explained the history of it's making. She claims it was interesting. She didn't share her guide, but rather summarized what she learned. After, we continued to explore the rest of Roma, however by the time we finished at the Colosseum it was dinnertime and we were all quite grouchy. I believe at this point our close quarters and long spans of time together have caused some tension. And it doesn't help that the amount of smoke in the air here (from cigarettes...don't these people know about lung cancer?) has created issues with each one of our allergies. My dad's diverticulitis is back and I had to help him find a pharmacy to get the medications he needs in order to survive for the last two days...
Basically, we are falling apart and I feel we are ready to come home to our beds, cleaner air, plugs that don't need adapters and more open space in order to prevent us from strangling one another in the next 48 hours. We all suggested conducting ourselves in complete silence...
this probably will not go well....

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