Giornale 1: The Baths of Caracalla

     After our group visit to the Palatine and a brief run in with Ke$ha, Jordan and I walked to the Baths of Caracalla.  Our walk there was around fifteen minutes and Jackie pointed us in the right direction and told us what Metro stops to take home.  One important thing to mention about or walk there is what we saw at the Circus Maximus.  The site of the Circus Maximus is undergoing some construction, but even if it weren’t, it is a sad sight to see.  The sides are boarded up and what little grass remains is dead or covered in dog poop.  This was a key site of entertainment for the ancient world.  It makes me wonder, what happened?

     On first approach the Baths of Caracalla are gigantic.  When we got to the entrance we realized that they were even bigger than gigantic.  The high brick walls and sheer size of the property was imposing.  They were clearly an important place for ancient Romans.  Just as we came through the gate, those four o’clock ominous grey clouds began to role in.  We said we were going to give this solo excursion a maximum life span of twenty minutes then go nap away the rain. 

     Once we got inside, I realized that the ruins weren’t particularly well preserved but they were certainly impressive.  The most intriguing parts of these ruins were the incredible mosaics that managed to survive this long.  Most of them were broken and just chunks, but like everything else on this site those chunks were massive. 

      First, we saw the floor mosaics and tiles.  They were patterned with red, white, yellow and green cone shapes.  They almost looked like fish scales.   We then came across some black and white chunks of mosaic.  These were most likely the bottom parts of the design because all that was left were feet. All the mosaics were black and white except for the floor.  As we got deeper and deeper into the complex, we could see more fragments of mosaics. These were more elaborate.  In these mosaics we could see horses, serpents, full-bodied people and even some foliage.  Jordan and I were SO excited by this.  We tried to identify all the scenes and place them into myths.  We failed, but it was still really fun.  It ended up being an hour and fifteen minute excursion!

      Exploring a site on our own was such an adventure.  Jordan and I discussed the pros and cons of doing group tours and seeing the sights on our own.  We decided we liked the freedom to roam at our own pace and down any route we please.  The downside was that we both had our faces buried in the Blue Guide (a fabulous help) instead of just being able to tap into Dan or Jackie’s encyclopedia-like minds. 

     Once it really started to rain we headed for the Metro and were smiling the whole ride back.  Both because of our new knowledge of roman baths, and the fact that we were on the right train.