visiting the ancients

A day in Roma

1. Breakfast at a nearby cafe. The man owner was funny, and we saw 2 Italian dads taking care of their babies
2. The Colosseum! However, we actually bought tickets to Palatino Hill, the Forum, and the Stadium (12 Euros). All areas needed signs, and the info was completely lacking. Everything was disorganized chaos. Still, it felt like an epic experience once we were inside the sites


smoke break for the centurion

Saturn's temple - or what's left of it!
3. Lunch at the Pizza Forum. We gorged ourselves
4. San Clementine Basilica! It was built in stages, one building on top of the other. First it was the Mithras Temple from the 2nd century BC. Then Christians arrived and built a church on the temple in the 4th century, where Saint Cyril has his remains. Finally, the basilica was constructed on top of that. Overall, it was an amazing site! The temperature was cool and there is an underground spring running throughout the site
5. Church di Santa Maria in Cosmedin. It was a Greek-Catholic church, which resulted from a schism and the church of Byzantium... or something like that. At this church was the Boca dela Verita. Legend has it that the stone mouth will bite down if someone is telling a lie. To perpetuate this legend, priests would occasionally put scorpions inside the mouth
The Boca claims another victim!
6. Capitoline Hill. This is and was the government center. Here we met Ryan Balch, an ultimate player, currently giving student tours in Rome. He used to play for Chain Lightning in Atlanta, and he knows all sorts of mutual acquaintances between Lily, Kristin, and me. He gave us a handful of recommendations - all of which turned out awesome, especially the food recs!
7. The 3D church fresco on the ceiling of Chiesa del Gesu. It was beautiful, ornate, and quite intriguing to look at
8. Dar Poeta restaurant! It was delicious, hip, and had a crazy dessert - a calzone filled with ricotta and nutella. We were stuffed, and by the time we left the wait outside was about an hour

Conclusions

It was a sensational day, filled with history and framed with good food! Also, I'm really glad to be a part of the ultimate community. People in it are extremely friendly (most always), and it has shown me how small the world is within this circle.