The Colosseum

Earlier this morning there was a tour of the Teatro Dell’Opera, the Rome Opera House, where tonight we will be going to see La Sonnambula, an opera by Bellini. Full of historical context and all that it might be, I decided to skip this particular tour, so if you want details you’ll have to ask Nicola. I met the tour group at the end and we reboarded the bus to go to the Colosseum.

The Colosseum, or the Flavian Amphitheatre, to give it its proper name, is in a central point of Rome and is the must-see attraction. We walked a short distance from where the bus parked us and joined the throng at the entrance. We were fortunate to have priority tickets but even so had to pass through security like everyone else, then our guide explained all about how old it was, how it was covered in marble originally which has since been “recycled” elsewhere. Some parts of it have fallen down and rebuilt in more modern brickwork – not because they thought no-one would notice, but to stabilise the structure of what’s left. We ascended to the first floor so we could look down into what remains of the understructure – there were two levels beneath what was originally the floor of the arena. The capacity rivals some of the world’s larger stadiums, and everyone had their own seat allocated based on their status.

After about an hour of touring the Colosseum we headed to a restaurant nearby. “Oh no”, I hear you cry, “another tourist rubbish place like yesterday". But no, in fact this restaurant managed to give us a decent lunch. Yes, set menu, yes, pasta (cacio e pepi again), and main of what described as beef but was in fact veal…but served with a salad that was more than mere garnish. Honestly, someone should tell these Romans about the existence of vegetables. Not to worry, it was all washed down with a very acceptable ansonica, and we finished up with what appeared to be a frozen chocolate mousse. We also hatched a plan about where to go in Florence on one of our free nights there, as two of our number are very familiar with the city and have a favourite restaurant.

We headed back to the hotel for a rest, and to start packing. We’re leaving early doors tomorrow to take in Orvieto on our way to Florence, so need to be prepared.

Tonight we’re going to the opera! More on that later.