My Defining Decade: "There's no reason to rush"

This morning, I woke up to a fairly traditional European breakfast of pastries, bread, and croissants with a cappuccino and some water. After my fill of carbs, we walked to the Colosseum for our tour. Our tour guide (who's name I forgot...oops) was fantastic! She told us all about the history of the Colosseum which was so fascinating!
Here are some fun facts:
- It was made entirely of travertine, a type of limestone found about 25 miles outside the city of Rome. Reconstruction is done in brick so that the original structure is apparent while they restore it.
- The shows were all free, but people sat according to their socioeconomic status. Kings and royalty at the very bottom, aristocrats at the second level, priests and priestesses at the third level, merchants and middle class citizens at the fourth level, and the poor and women at the fifth level.
- The wooden stage was covered with sand during the shows, and sand in Latin is "arena." That's how we began calling stadiums "arenas."
- Iron clamps held the many blocks of travertine together as they built the structure from 72-82 A.D. Once the Colosseum was abandoned by the sixth century, every single iron clamp was stolen, which totaled about 300 tons of iron!
-It's estimated that the Colosseum could hold about 70,000 people in its prime and could be emptied in ten minutes. Still waiting for our modern stadiums to take the hint.
- Although a few people volunteered to be gladiators, many were slaves or prisoners who had nothing to lose and basically signed an agreement with the Roman administration saying, "If I survive as a gladiator for ____ amount of time, I will get my freedom."

Our tour lasted about three hours, and our tour guide consistently reminded us, "there's no reason to rush" as we approached steep stairs or were wandering around trying to find the next thing to look at. That seems to be a theme here. People walk slowly on sidewalks, they're somewhat slow to serve you, and you'll never get a check at a restaurant without asking. They're living the Slow Life (it's a thing if you want to look it up) and they are perfectly happy doing it! I'm not totally used to it yet, but I love the idea. I'm hoping I can still be a little productive when I get back home, though.

Not only was the tour interesting, the Colosseum was grand and beautiful and well-designed. I would've loved to talk to one of the architects who designed the Colosseum - who builds something entirely in limestone that meets every arena's needs for 500 years the first time?! A team I want to meet, that's who. I could've stayed there for an entire day, but unfortunately the tour ended and lunch was calling.

We ended up at a small Italian restaurant on a street corner, as they all are, and sat down for some much needed food. I ended up having my first Italian margherita pizza with a lemon soda! The crust was much thinner than I was expecting but still slightly fluffy and light. The cheese was amazingly fresh but the one basil leaf surprised me. In typical obnoxious American fashion, I ripped my single basil leaf to try to sprinkle each piece with a bit. Maybe Italians just eat the basil leaf in one bite? I still haven't figured that out yet.

After lunch, Allie and I broke off from the group to find a straightener and curling iron. It's HOT here so my natural hair lasts a solid twenty minutes before getting frizzy. If you don't know, the voltage here is twice the voltage of American outlets, so American straightener plates basically "melt" off the straightener. It's pretty crazy. On our way back to the hotel, we obviously stopped for gelato and I relived my glory days with some Stracciatella! It's basically hard shell chocolate chip with vanilla gelato and when it's done right, it's the best ice cream type dessert I've ever had! This one was perfect.

Then we had a very chill afternoon. Still coming off of jet lag, naps were much needed. Then, it was off to our group dinner! We started off with lasagna (like as an appetizer. A giant piece of lasagna was our appetizer). Then came an interesting pork/prosciutto dish which was alright...I think I'll stick with the pasta. Finally, we had a dessert. I'm pretty sure it was custard with a type of berry jelly on top, but a more accurate description we came up with was "cheese jello" or "gelatinous ricotta." It wasn't the worst thing I've ever had, but again, I'm going to stick with the classic gelato.

To end the night, almost the entire group went to an ice bar! It was literally a bar entirely made of ice. The walls and rooms, every shelf and seat, the bar and everything in between was made of ice! Even the drinks were served in ice cone cups. We had to wear these coat poncho things to keep warm, which unfortunately didn't cover my feet in sandals...don't judge me, it's hot here! I was so excited to be cold for just a little while. I got the Cristal Gold - limoncello and sprite and it was pretty good! On our way home, we stopped for gelato again! Because you can never have too much gelato, and I only have nine more days to eat my fill!