6/7 - Rome (Part 2)
Brick and stone on the Palatine hill
The Palatine hill's sights were not numbered, so I had no idea how the audioguide would've worked. There was also a total lack of information panels, almost total lack of labels (ie What the current place was) and few directional signs.
Having exhausted the possibilities of the Palatine hill, we went down to the Ancient Forum.
Tempio di Antonio e Faustinia
Aedes Vestae
Vestal Virgin temple. The flame was extinguished in 393 AD when Christianity became the official religion, angering the Gods. No wonder the Roman Empire fell.
Tempio dei Castoni
Cloaca Maxima
Forum
Temple of Saturn
Umbilicus Urbis Romae
Aedes Deum Consentium
Behind: Mons Capitolinus. The wall talked about Gregory XVI and Pius IX
Arch of Septimus Severus, and details
Ancient Forum
Imperial Forum. I find it ironic that it's less well preserved than the Ancient Forum. Unfortunately the whole thing was closed!!!
Trajan's Column
Victor Emmanuel Monument
Circus Maximus
I got a Don Giovanni DVD for €7. Yay. I wonder when I'll get down to watching it though.
For dinner, Andrew and I had Chinese food. On the menu: "Gnocchi di Miso" ("Gnocchi of rice" - "chao3 nian2 gao1"), "Spaghetti di Miso" ("chao3 mi2 fen3") and "zha4 shui3 guo3" (Fried fruit?! This is a first. There was apple, banana and one more whose characters I didn't understand; they were battered and fried). Unfortunately I pronounced "zha4" (deep fried) as "chao3" (stir fried). As I commented: "No wonder we don't get free food - products of the 2nd generation Chinese diaspora". But then, so were they - they were PRCs, not Cantonese-speaking types, so there was no "boat people" spirit of solidarity.
What I thought was soy sauce in a bottle turned out to be Balsamic Vinegar.
Me: I like my ice-cream like I like my women.
Andrew: Cold?
Rome is even less English-friendly than Paris.
I had problems booking both the night trains I needed - Cinque Terra-Venice and Avignon-Reims. For the former I should've booked the moment I landed in Rome, using one of the ubiquitous machines, but I was waiting for Andrew to get everything done at once (it's one of those things you do against your better judgment, like traveling with the Cock). Oh well. The Avignon-Reims ticket was weird though, since though it was available online the Trenitalia counter staff told me it was unavailable - maybe they hate the Italians (I looked at the screen and she seemed to be clicking the right buttons).
Travel tips:
- Book in advance and plan ahead if you can - you lose flexibility but the alternative may be screwing yourself, especially around peak period.