ARROW - 33. Chapter 33

Walking back toward our hotel, “Armand, I know there was a reason for those steps. Carla was so busy telling us about going to America she never said anything about the Steps.”

“The Steps were named Spanish Steps because at the base of the Steps was the Spanish Embassy. I think the interesting thing is that the Steps were commissioned by the French king, Louis XII, and funded by a French diplomat, Stefano Gueffier. When Gueffier died he left his money to the project. I always thought that it was strange that the French were responsible for the steps. That church at the top, was built by the French and is considered a French church.”

“Why the three tiers.”

“The Steps were dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The three sections represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Church provided a connection to the Holy See.”

“Holy See, what is that?”

“That’s a term related to the Pope.”

“It’s still early. Where are we going now?”

“We are going to the Roman Greenwich.”

Colin looked at me as if I lost my mind. “There is no Greenwich here in Rome. What are you talking about?”

“Who lives in Greenwich?”

“The wealthy.” As if someone turned on the light, “So we are going to where the wealthy Romans lived.” I smiled and kissed his cheek.

As we approached Palatine Hill, “You know that Rome was built on seven hills. I think you read that in the book you had when we were in the Forum. This hill is called the Palatine Hill, and that is where the wealthy lived. This Hill is the centermost of all the hills. If you didn’t have a home on this Hill, you weren’t considered to be a member of the upper class. Palatine Hill was believed to have been where the cave of Romulus and Remus existed.”

“But that is a myth.”

“Yes, but that was the belief back then. Your friend, Augustus, built his imperial palace there.”

“Why do you say my friend?”

“You remember the tall columns of his temple in Barcelona?”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t call him a friend. He was the one who had that 13 year old girl killed.”

“There are some remains of palaces that the Roman Emperors built. Would you like to go over there?”

“Yes”

So we crossed over and to Colin’s delight, we bought a book that gave the history and some current facts concerning the archeology currently going on. I followed him as he would look, touch, and take photos. He would read everything he could in English and I would translate for him anything not in English. He would look at me and smile, if I didn’t know that I loved him before I knew it now.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on Palatine Hill. It reminded me of the old city in Barcelona. I began to believe that he missed his calling. He would have been a great archelogist.

We stopped in front of several remnants of Palaces built by Emperors, Augustus, Flavia, and Domitian. “Nero had a home here but it was destroyed in a fire he is accused of starting.”

“All of these palaces face the Circus Maximus.”

“I thought it would be bigger.”

“I did as well.”

“Here was the Hippodrome which was a part of Domus Augustana. It was to small to accommodate chariots so it became a huge sunken garden. There is a museum, want to go?”

I laughed as he pulled me in the direction of the museum. The museum was small compared to most museums. There were two floors, each floor was divided into compartments. On the first floor, there were 4 compartments, more like cells. I watch as Colin stopped in front of each cell, read the description and took a photograph.

“Some of these artifacts go back to years before Christ. I wonder what this place look like when humans first started to live here.” I just smiled.

“What was the Monastery of the Visitation? This plaque says the Monastery was here before the museum.”

“If I remember from my first visit, the Monastery of the Visitation was a place for nuns created by the Catholic Church. It was built in 1868 on the ruins of Domitian’s palace and now it is a museum of ancient artifacts.”

Colin stopped in front of each ‘cell’, taking photos. On the way out, I picked up a book that showed the cells and explained what was in the cell. I’ll hand him the book tonight, but right now there was still more to see.

Colin reminded me of a child in an amusement park. Each time we would stop to look at an artifact or read a plaque, he would smile, looking at me.

“Armand, are you hungry?”

“I’m getting there. Are you hungry?” He smiled. He didn’t have to say anything, his smile said it all.

“We can stop at the restaurant you like. It’s a short distance away.”

Walking into the restaurant, our waiter recognized us and approached us with a glass of wine for us. We smiled as he showed us to a table. We didn’t order, he left and brought us an antipasto plate. From then on, what ever he brought, we ate.

I foreseen a problem, when we get home, the club’s chef better learn to prepare some of these dishes.

After dinner, we trudged up the hill to our hotel. It wasn’t until we had showered and were in bed, when Colin showed me how much he appreciated today.