2. The Colosseum

We chose Good Friday to visit the Colosseum.

Bad idea!

Notice that everyone else is walking away from the site while we are walking towards it.  What you can't see is the heavily armed military at either end of the roadway - Paul gets a bit agitated when I point my camera at a gun, so I wisely chose to ignore them. So on we walked.

Passed the "Free drinking water - treated and refrigerated - natural or sparkling" together with  "Charge your mobile here" and display your photos on the public screen.

Passed the seriously propped rear wall of the 2,000 year old Basilica of Maxentius (part of the Roman Forum) - propped because they are building a railway station underneath it!

On to the forecourt of the Colosseum, only to find all of the gates closed and no entry.
"But we have a ticket!" we said with indignation. "We purchased it yesterday as a two day pass for the Roman Forum and the Colosseum!" we said.

"Too bad" they said.  "The Pope's coming" they said. "See up there ... at 9pm".  

"But it is only midday" we said.  

"Move along, señora"

So we did.

There is a lot more English language signage in Rome than in the past so we spent an enjoyable hour pottering around the perimeter, reading the multi-language hoardings that described in words and photos, the huge challenges of restoring and maintaining this fabulous building.

The big plaque says the Vatican paid for the four new travertine columns supporting this gateway - back in the 18th C.  I hope they are still contributing in some way, but there is no sign of it.  

This photo is from the conservation board that describes how they clean the 20,000 square metres of travertine stone comprising the building structure in the area currently under conservation. 
They must remove any biological growth and weeds, checking the condition of any iron elements (pins, bolts, rings etc) in the structure, sealing small cracks and surface discontinuities. All the while taking care to preserve the layers of patina and the ancient repairs beneath the layers of deposits.

This is followed by restoring the mortar and cement pointing while making sure the colours match, filling in missing areas and cavities in the stones, mapping the cracks and lesions and investigating structural problems.

The huge wall of brick seen here on the right was part of a particularly important restoration in the 1930's that saved the external wall from further collapse at this point. The engineer responsible for this vital work undertook similar work on a number of sites around the historic centre preserving numerous significant monuments that would otherwise have been lost.

Having decided not to join the crowds milling for a glance of Il Papa, nine hours hence, we walked through the ruins of the Temple of Venus and Roma heading for the Tiber.

Paul was hungry.

Two years ago, in the Trastevere district on the west bank of the river, we had found a great little eatery up an alley and down a laneway, past a square, turn right under the wisteria and its the fourth shop on the right. Well, it took us an hour but we were determined!

La Prosciutteria - Vini-Panini-Merende - Wine-Bread-Snacks.

Sit on a box out the front or a stool inside. Every type of pork product you can think of - free range happy pigs from Montespertoli near Florence.

Twenty euros ($28.50) for a large platter of meat, cheese, vegetables, fruit and bread that saw two hungry people through lunch as well as dinner.  Four-fifty euros ($6) for the Peroni beer.

Tomorrow - a bus ride and the Trajan Markets.