illegitimis non carborundum: AAR CSS: Day 16

We had an Italian summer thunderstorm this morning. By which I mean the ninth plague struck and it hailed cats and dogs.

Between 8:30 and 8:45am:

The lights on the Vittoriano (a.k.a. the Wedding Cake, the Typewriter) came on at 9am:

We had made it to the forum by the time the skies opened up, so we spent a solid half-hour crowded in the bookstore with a very annoyed saleswoman. She claimed "she couldn't work" with all of us in there, but the reality of it was that 1) some of us were buying things, and 2) there were at least fifteen other people in there with us, none of whom were buying things, which leads to 3) by "couldn't work" she really meant that she couldn't tell if anyone was stealing anything with that many people in the same room. She told our director that we could wait in a different building across the Via dei Fori Imperiali, but we declined her generous offer of getting soaked while running across a 4-6 lane artery (it varies depending on how crazy the drivers are) to appease her.

End result:

What we were supposed to do today:

-Forum Romanum: Basilica Iulia, Rostra, Curia Iulia, Temple of Divus Iulius

-Forum of Caesar

-Forum of Augustus

-Museum in the Markets of Trajan

What we actually did today:

-Waited out the rain, then went to the Curia

-Attempted to get a bus to Termini to see the Palazzo Massimo:

-Gave up waiting for said bus and took the Metro to the Palazzo Massimo instead:

It turned out to be a very nice day. We were released at about 1pm. Headed north to the Piazza della Repubblica (because Italians use a double b in pubblica and its compounds, not sure why), got lunch, then to the Borghese gardens. When I was at the Colosseum last week I asked after the catalogue to the triumphs exhibition that was on a few years ago, but they didn't have it. However, I was told the Museum of Modern Art did, so I went there first only to find that they only carry modern art books (duh). Crazy Italians. It wasn't a total loss, though:

Just inside the northern entrance to the Borghese gardens is Rome's Bioparco (a.k.a. the zoo). I added to my elongated penny collection and went to see the animals. Stayed until closing (6pm) and managed to get back to the Centro with 15 minutes to spare before dinner. Will return to the zoo before the end of the summer, since I didn't even see half of it in the three hours I was there. It's no Bronx, but Italy has very few zoos, and this one is worth the price of admission.