Visiting the House Maximus Built

I woke up early the next morning in hopes of beating the famously long lines to get into the Roman Colliseum, Forum and Palatine Hill. Fortunately, I received outstanding advice from the staff at Yellow Hostel, who told me that I should buy my ticket at the Forum and not the Colliseum. One ticket earns admittance into all three sites and you are allowed to buy a ticket at any of them. The Colliseum is the most famous of the three, and with most people not knowing the ins and outs of the process, the lines at the Colliseum are hours long. Instead, I waited in line at the Forum for about 5 minutes and later walked into the Colliseum without interference from annoying, loud, camera-toting tourists.



The Forum was really cool, especially because I was lucky enough to stumble upon a free walking tour shortly after arriving there. We heard stories of chariot races and emperors killing their brothers. You know, just the typical Roman affairs. The best story, however, answered the age-old question:

Why is it impossible to find a free public bathroom in Italy?

Back in The Day, the wealthy would have their servants wash their clothes. But at the time, the only disinfectant that existed happened to be urine. As a result, the workers would take the clothing to the bathrooms and urinate on them. Seeing a lucrative opportunity present itself, the emperors levied a bathroom tax within the entire country. Apparently Italy's economy hasn't improved much since then, so the policy has yet to be overturned.

Note: The above is not even close to being the craziest Italian bathroom fact. Look for a later of The Blog to hear that little nugget.








After the walking tour, I perused Palatine Hill, but didn't spend too much time exploring because I was so excited for the Colliseum. I made the walk across the street and entered the house Maximus built. I circled the rim of the arena, taking in the museum aspect of it. After about half an hour of examinig artifacts and admiring sculptures, it was time to step into the light. I had been told by my friend Brandon that seeing the Colliseum makes you want to see Gladiator, and quite frankly, he was right. I walked around, and finally sat down and just enjoyed the view for a while. I even imagined myself shackled to other slaves, while fending off tigers and potential slayers.







I would have stayed longer than I did, but it began to rain, which quelled my fantasy to the point that I was ready to go. Regardless, the Colliseum (both during the day and at night) was one of the coolest touristy sights I visited in Europe.