Return to the Forum

Today was my first day of training as a (semi)official tour guide in Rome. I met Dara at the Arch of Constantine, and we spent 4 hours reliving every Centro field trip to the Forum ever. I had to try not to smile too much, which I tend to do on account of my overpowering love and fondness for all the parts of the Forum. I was already familiar with most of the things he was telling me, which also made me smile, but it was a great refresher, and a really lovely walk. The weather this morning was a bit overcast, but after feeling a grand total of two rain drops, the skies cleared, and it was another glorious day.

The only thing that marred my afternoon was the disheartening discovery that the Italian government is now charging admittance to the Forum. The ticket gets you in to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, as well, but it is not exactly cheap. Further frustrating is the student discount that applies only to students who are also citizens of the EU, and even my well-practiced British accent and my international student ID card do not suffice to attain it. In true Italian fashion, I need to present a legal document proving my EU citizenship. I am actually a bit surprised that there are not more restrictions, since the Italians love beaurocracy and paperwork. Still, the money from the tours pays for the tickets, so I should be ok in the end.

I am covering the Colosseum/Forum tours, 6 days a week, and the Pantheon tour once or twice a week. Tomorrow, I will be trained to give the Vatican tour, though right now I am not scheduled to give that one. Alas! I really love the Vatican, so I hope I might be able to give more tours there, either under the company aegis or on my own. I am able to work freelance, giving private tours, when I am not working for Dara, so I hope I will be able to pick up some more tours that way. Though I am somewhat motivated by money, I am more interested in sharing those parts of Rome's history and architecture that I love so much, in the hopes that they have the same mesmerizing effect on someone else that they do on me.