Into the Colosseum

Apparently we were tired last night. We’d planned on going to the coast this morning, because I really want to see the Mediterranean, but when I woke up and looked at my phone and it read “11:16 AM,” that was not going to happen. By the time we’d get out the door, we wouldn’t have much time at the coast and we’d hit rush hour traffic coming back. So instead we switched up the plans and decided to head back to the Colosseum and another museum today, and do the coast on Wednesday.

I bought the tickets for both the entrance to the Colosseum and the museum online via Co-op Culture Italy, the group that maintains a lot of the sights and museums here. Then with our confirmation email in hand on my phone, we walked about 15 minutes to the museum. It closed first, so we figured we’d spend an hour or two there, then head to the Colosseum. Following the instructions in the confirmation email, I handed my phone to the lady at the ticket desk, who read it, shrugged, and said that because we had both the Colosseum tickets AND her museum’s tickets, she could give us neither. We needed to go back outside and across the street to get them printed. “Where across the street?” I asked. “You go across the street, near the metro station.” And that was all of the information I was going to get.

So we walked outside and tried to figure out where on earth she was talking about, and had no idea — there were no signs for Co-op Culture, no logos on any of the tourist shops anywhere, nothing. And it’s Italy, so we didn’t exactly trust what anyone would tell us if we asked them for help. I wanted to cry — an overreaction, yes, but it was already 2:30 in the afternoon now and I’d spent 46 euros getting these tickets and there appeared to be no way to actually use them. But rather than pout, we headed to the Colosseum. Maybe that’s where we could get our tickets printed. Along the 25 minute walk there, I dug through the Co-op website some more, and found a note that appeared to indicate that all tickets, whether for the Colosseum or not, had to be picked up at the Colosseum. Which made no sense.

But when we got to the Colosseum, that was indeed the case. Ok, my turn to shrug. So we got all the tickets (which were, fortunately, good for three days, so we can still go to the museum later) and into the Colosseum we went!

It’s a truly stunning structure. The size and construction, what’s been destroyed, what remains, and what’s been restored.

You have to take your time.

There are even more artifacts inside in the museum part of the Colosseum, and I’d about died and gone to heaven at this point. Sculptures, busts, remains of walls, Greek and Latin.

Sappho appeared again.

As did three exhausted looking philosophers: Heraclitus, Democritus, and Archytax.

We wandered back outside, now on the second floor of the Colosseum and people-watched for a bit. Travis pulled out the GoPro and got some good shots, then asked a couple standing next to us if they’d mind holding the camera and getting some footage for us with us in it.

I thought he’d want to stand right next to one another and smile for the camera but nope, he came over and kissed me and I was like oh, you wanted to kiss me, ok, and then he went down on one knee and pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him!

And of course I said yes. 🙂

And then I said, hey, I have a ring for you too! I knew Travis was going to propose some time on this trip, so I came prepared, because why should the girl be the only one with bling? Plus I’d found a lightsaber ring on Etsy and he is a ginormous Star Wars geek, so obviously.

It’s about a half size too small, so we’ll see about getting it re-sized when we get home. 🙂

Much congratulating, picture taking, texting family and friends, and kissing ensued, and then we were like oooh we have an idea: we picked up a mini Colosseum replica in the gift shop, located where he proposed again, and marked the spot.

Eventually we decided we should eat some dinner, so we picked up some salami, cheese, bread, and cookies from the local grocery. We found a spot by the Colosseum and watched the sun set near the Palatine Hill.