‘Cross Rome the Day Unfolds

‘Cross Rome the Day Unfolds (May 1)

We didn’t begin the day with the intention of walking for about 7 hours, nor to trap ourselves in a crowd of thousands as the swine flu was starting to spread, but by the end of the day that is what we accomplished.

We began by walking along the Villa Borghese Park to the Piazza del Popolo. At that point we realized we might be close to the Etruscan Museum. It was quieter, and shady too as we neared the museum. We stopped briefly outside the soccer playing field of a school, (the sign above the door was “Knights of Columbus”) where roosters and pigeons appeared engaged in a soccer match. (Pigeons won thus proving size isn’t everything, even in Italy).

The museum was closed for the holiday, so we walked east to the Tiber River and then south and west back to the Piazza del Popolo. Next we headed approximately south on the Via del Corso, in the direction of the Forum. About halfway we stopped for refreshment at the Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina. From there it was back the hotel via the Spanish Steps to lighten our loads because rain gear was clearly not needed. We returned to the Via del Corso by way of the even more daunting Trevi Fountain, where we spent about 20 minutes making our way through the crowd, and maybe 20 seconds looking at the fountain.

A pattern was developing. We broke through the Trevi crowd and made our way at a decent pace to the Forum,

and then on to the Colosseum.

Once we made it to the Colosseum we could have taken the Metro back to our hotel, but we realized we were close to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, near where our daughter-in-law went to university for 2 years.

We made it to within sight of the Basilica, but no closer. A May Day concert was taking place in front of the church and it was not possible to approach it. The crowd was between us and the nearest Metro station, with no easily discernable alternate approach because of the 15th century city wall. With both the confidence and the foolishness of too little information, we actually tried to cut across the crowd of mostly youngsters, who were there to party and maybe nod a time or two to socialism and communism, fueled by the many street vendors selling beer. We made slow and sweaty progress, and then were pushed back en masse when an ambulance made its way in the opposite direction. We couldn’t help but move with the crowd. If anyone had fallen there was a likelihood of being crushed, we realized.

All together it took about 30 minutes to make our way through the crowd and the gate in the wall to the Metro stop. It was closed. On we trudged to the next stop and it too was closed. Finally the next station was opened and we made it back to our hotel after logging an estimated 10 – 14 miles on foot!