罗马第一天 (Rome, Day One)

Steal a perfectly good translation inline below…

8月3日 星期五

罗马真不愧是大名鼎鼎的小偷之城，PJG的手机今天在一个超级拥挤的公交车上被偷走了。在累了一天坐在公交车上回民宿的路上，车上的人非常多，我俩站在车的中间部位，人挨着人，手都没有把手的地方，PJG把背包拎到手里，特意把手机从屁股兜转移到胸前的半袖兜里，而且他很清楚地知道很有被偷的可能，一个女的把似乎是他掉到地上的充电宝递给他，之后手机就没了。发生的特别快，不知道是谁偷的，也许是那个女的，也许是她的同伙，或是别人，因为人真的是太多了，我们在明处，小偷们在暗处，防不胜防。这次的教训是，我俩一定要面对小偷准备的更充分些。还有，PJG说这回他也追寻了他父亲的脚步，他父亲当年背偷了钱包  😂

偷走了, 回不来了，再想也没用了，还是简单地纪录一下今天的游程吧。

西班牙阶梯

西班牙阶梯是一座户外阶梯，建于1723到1725，是连西班牙广场和山上的天主圣三教堂的阶梯。因为其独特的设计，这里曾吸引了很多艺术家来这里创作，现在这里是罗马最吸引游客的旅游胜地之一。这里也是电影“罗马假日”里，奥黛丽·赫本和格里高利·派克邂逅的地方。

Friday, August 3

Rome is truly the famous city of thieves. PJG’s cell phone was stolen today on a super-crowded bus. We were heading back to the AirBnB on a bus after a tiring day standing in the middle of the bus being crushed by people on all sides with no handles to hold onto. PJG takes off his backpack and holds it in front of him. He also transfers his phone from his butt pocket to the half-sleeve pocket on his chest, and we were very aware that pick-pockets were all around. Sometime during the commotion, our spare battery drops to the floor (probably part of the diversion). A woman hands him the charger that seemed to fall to the ground, and then the phone was gone. It happened so fast, we don’t know who stole it, maybe it was the woman, maybe her partner, or someone else, because there are way too many people – we are in the open, the thieves are in the dark, it is impossible to prevent. The lesson of this time is probably not to ride crowded busses. Also, PJG had said that as he was pursuing his father’s footsteps, his father also had his wallet stolen on a crowded train on one of his trips to Rome. 😂

We locked the iphone remotely so if it is ever connected to the internet it will be erased. The phone is useless and can never be used again. Anyway, it’s been stolen, it’s not coming back, and it’s pointless to think about it, so I’ll simply record today’s events.

The Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps is an outdoor staircase, built between 1723 and 1725, leading from the Spanish Square to the Church of the Holy Trinity. Because of its unique design, it has attracted many artists to create here, and now it is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Rome. It is also one if the places used in the movie “Roman Holiday”, with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

罗马斗兽场

大名鼎鼎的罗马斗兽场真是名不虚得，很壮观。这个公元80年建成的斗兽场是古罗马最大最著名的露天剧场，是第一座用砖石建成的，之前的露天剧场都是木质的。古罗马人来这里的娱乐项目是观看猛兽和猛兽，猛兽和角斗士，角斗士和角斗士之间的战斗。角斗士们之所以来参加角斗是因为钱，地位，和最重要的获得自由。很多角斗士都是奴隶，从17，8岁开始训练，角斗，一年斗2次，赢的一方自由后还会获得一个木杖，还有物质奖励，有时候输的一方也会获得自由。但是装死是不可能的，举办者会用少的火红的石块还测探输者是否在装死。

The Colosseum

The famous Colosseum is truly famous and spectacular. The Colosseum, built in 80 AD, is the largest and most famous amphitheater in ancient Rome and probably the world. It was the first to be built with bric, the former one being built from wood. The entertainment that the ancient Romans came here was to watch were battles between beasts and beasts, beasts and the gladiators, and between gladiators. The reason why gladiators came to participate in the fight is because of money, status, and most importantly freedom. Most gladiators were slaves. They started their training at the age of 17 and would fight twice a year. The winner received a wooden sword and their freedom. Sometimes the loser will also be freed based on his popularity as a fighter. Sometimes they would pretend to die in order to get freed but the organizer would use flaming stones to test whether the loser is simply pretending to be dead.

斗兽场在公元523年进行了最后一次斗兽后，就一直荒废着，地下部分被淹埋，地上部分尤其是南面的斗兽场，被拆除，所有能用的建筑材料都被拿走去建其他的建筑物，包括石头，砖，铁，大理石等，这种状况直到1750年才停止。

After the last battle at the Colosseum in 523 AD, the Colosseum was abandoned. The underground part was flooded. The upper part of t he Colosseum, especially the southern part of the Colosseum, was demolished. All the building materials that were used were taken away and used in other buildings, including the stone, brick, iron, marble, etc., which continued through 1750.

帕拉蒂尼山

是罗马七座山丘之中的一座，是罗马市里所保存下来的最古老的地区之一。在这个山丘上，可以俯瞰古罗马广场和不远处的斗兽场，古罗马广场是几个世纪以来罗马人日常活动的中心。当然现在变成了一个巨大的露天博物馆，这些保存下来的残垣断壁无不彰显着古罗马时期的繁盛。

Palatine Hill

It is one of the seven hills in Rome and one of the oldest preserved area in Rome. On this hill overlooking the Roman Forum and with the Colosseum not far away, the Roman Forum was the center of daily activities of the Romans for centuries. Of course, it has now become a huge open-air museum, and the preserved ruins are all manifestations of the prosperity of ancient Romans.

很幸运的是，在游览帕拉蒂尼山遗址的时候，下起了雨，让难耐的热天变得凉爽了很多。离开了帕拉蒂尼山去坐公交车的路上，路过了威尼斯广场。

维托里亚诺纪念堂

维托里亚诺纪念堂是纪念统一意大利的第一位国王维托里奥·埃马努埃莱二世的纪念碑，整个建筑始于 1885年，在1925年由墨索里尼完成。另一个名字是“祖国的祭坛”,  因为这个纪念碑是为了庆祝意大利统一和意大利作为一个国家在十九世纪末的诞生而建造的。 但是它还有两个本地人起的绰号， “婚礼蛋糕” 和 “打字机”。纪念堂的最中心是国王维托里奥·埃马努埃莱二世自己骑马的巨大青铜雕像。

Fortunately, when we visited the Palatine Hill ruins, it was raining, making the hot days cooler. Leaving the Palatine Hill on the way to the bus, we passed the Piazza Venezia.

Altare della Patria-  Memorial Hall

This Memorial was a monument to the first king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II. The building began in 1885 and was completed in 1925 by Mussolini. Another name for the monument is the, “Altar of the Motherland” because it was built to celebrate the unification of Italy and the birth of Italy as a country at the end of the nineteenth century. But it also has two less flattering nicknames from the locals, “Wedding Cake” and “Typewriter.” At the heart of the memorial hall is the huge bronze statue of King Vittorio Emanuele II riding a horse.

由于下雨，而且也游走了一天，很累，我俩没有力气登上纪念堂顶上了，便去坐公交车打算会民宿，然后上了公交车手机就被偷了。

多么有收获的一天 😅

Due to the rain, but also walking around the city we were very tired and didn’t have the strength to climb to the top of the memorial hall. So we went to the bus stop and planned to return home – and then on the bus the phone was stolen.

What a rewarding day. 😅