The Roman Forum

My original plan was to see the Roman Forum yesterday. But after the Colosseum, and the palace complex, we were ready to call it a day. Luckily, I've planned a few days in Rome with no agenda. This gives us the freedom to not be so rushed.

The Forum, being right next to the palace and the Colosseum, is exactly the same walk as yesterday. It's getting cold in Rome. I'm wearing a sweatshirt, and My Lovely Wife has fashioned a coat out of a thin fleece blanket. (She's very cleaver.)

Admission is free. I'm wondering why there's no fee here but there was for yesterday's sites.

The Forum was the heart of Rome. The Senate was here, as were many temples to the gods. Above the temples and the Senate, up on the hill, was the palace and Caesar. Even the gods would have looked up to him, the provider of all riches that came to Rome.

A rather bland modern shack covers what is believed to be the tomb of Julius Caesar. There's a heap of dirt inside with fresh flowers. If it really is Caesar, it doesn't seem monument enough. But it is just a heap of dirt and not at all worth a picture.

I am amazed any of the ruins still exist. Not until the past century or so has there been significant demand for touring the ruins of the ancient world. Since there has been significant pillaging of building materials from the other ancient structures, why is there any marble left? I grant you the very large arches would be a lot of effort to tear down, but there's pillar fragments lying around all over the place.

For that matter, why wasn't The Forum replaced hundreds of years ago with housing? Rome has been a dense city for two thousand years, it could have used the space. I suspect, but have no confirming information, that culturally the Romans have looked to this site as their once mighty Empire. Today, Romans are still proud of the Empire. Perhaps that pride has been continuous?

We took the Metro to Spagna and saw the Spanish Steps. What a tourist trap! Absolutely nothing about this staircase is special, except it was in a movie or two. So was Detroit. I rest my case. I paused to eat an apple because I couldn't think of anything better to do here.

Above the steps, we found the Villa Medici, which is now a public park. There are several musicians busking, and some are very good. If you stay very long, you really should reward the musician you like with a Euro. Otherwise, they will leave and the Villa will be diminished.

Down below the Villa, and off to the side is Piazza del Popolo. This is a large Piazza which is framed with some very nice architecture, statues, and an Egyptian obelisk in the center. You can find obelisks all over Rome. Apparently, Caesar brought these back as trophies of war.

We hadn't done any real walking for a couple days, so we decided to skip the Metro and walk across Rome back to hotel Canova. This was a nice walk because there was a large crowd taking over the street we were on for at least half the distance. (We didn't have to dodge cars.)