CHAPTER 20 ITALY CONT.

There is no admission fee at the Coliseum and at the Forum we are admitted “gratis” since we are over 60. The Coliseum is indeed very large but is not in as good a condition as Roman Arenas we have seen in Arles and Nimes, France. The Forum is a very large and interesting area of excavated Roman ruins, and excavation work is still going on. We tire fast and return to the hotel to rest and read after a very delicious lunch at the Trattoria Alfredo. It is partly sunny today but cool, and it’s chilly in our room. Glenn starts an antibiotic prescription his doctor has given him for chest congestion.

It rains most of the night, but lets up so we take the Metro to St. Peter’s. We are impressed by its’ beauty and size; one could easily get lost inside among the huge crowds. We see the Pieta and loads of other statuary, and like the obelisk. We ride the Metro back to the hotel area, shop for supper snacks, eat a good sea bass menu at Alfredos, and spend the afternoon and evening resting, reading, and doing crossword puzzles.

We ride the Metro to the Trevi fountain area and are very disappointed that it is being repaired; the water is gone and many of the figures are covered up. Back at the hotel area we see the old and very pretty Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. A mass is underway so we can’t see the famous mosaics in the nave. Glenn loses his wallet today; either his pocket is picked in the subway, or with many layers of clothes in the cold weather he doesn’t get the wallet correctly back into his pocket. It only had a few lire and a phone card; anything important is kept in a safe place like a money belt or a hotel safe.

On the first day of May it is still cold, and we are both ailing, so we spend the day in the room resting and sleeping, and only go out to Alfredos to eat.