Today was an incredible day.
Robert and I woke up around five and went for a walk around Rome. We found the Colosseum and the Victor Emmanuel II Monument. We got to watch Rome wake up. Rome wakes up much earlier than Venice or Florence.
Today we got picked up by our excursion driver, at our AirBnB. He dropped us off in front of the Colosseum. There's a US movie being filmed there, so these guys in all black that looked official kept waving us the wrong ways. I finally got frustrated and had enough and said angrily, "Stop waving us the wrong way. We're trying to get to the Colosseum entrance." One of them took pity and explained what was going on and guided us.
Honestly, I can't explain the Colosseum complex. We walked for hours all around the Palatine Hill area and the Forum and the Pantheon and I wept twice. We saw Augustus and Livia's home which was incredible. We saw 50,000 pound columns in front of the Forum. We saw things built by Ceasar.
Palatine Hill is the center of seven hills and the oldest area in Rome. It is the heart of Rome.
According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf Lupa that kept them alive.
Another legend occurring on the Palatine is Hercules' defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed a cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, where later a staircase bearing the name of Cacus was constructed.
The Pantheon was built in an unknown year but rebuilt by Agrippa and later rebuilt by Hadrian.
The Colosseum is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today, despite its age.
I can't describe these locations. The pilgrimage is intense but peaceful, powerful yet slightly sad and full of mystery. To see the thousands of people who walk the trails and paths and black marble stones, it's obvious we are all looking for answers to who we are now and who we were then. We are looking for commonality and meaning.
I found great peace in the Palatine complex. I will look at the photos forever until I die.
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