Personal Journal Day 2 (5/19)

Entry 1
Today's first outing was to the Markets of Trajan.  It was a somewhat surreal experience because the area contained both ancient artifacts and a very modern fashion exhibit.  The two were often right next to each other.  We first entered into a large open hall with rows of brick archways on both sides leading into shops.  We began our walk through the markets by walking through one of the arches on the right hand side.  In this small room there lay a huge chunk of a temple, and to the right was a row of dresses with green vegetable patterns.  This was pretty standard for the place.  Fashion aside, it was a pretty cool place to walk through.  Just when I thought I had found the end of the complex, I would notice a doorway leading to another large set of small hallways and rooms.  It was a little annoying at times that the ancient artifacts seemed to have been moved to accommodate the fashion.  At one point an informational video asked me if I could see a hand on a statue that wasn't there.  But then we reached the balcony overlooking the Imperial Fora and I forgot everything else.  This was the first time that I really felt like I was experiencing the ancient city. I had just walked around a marketplace that was used thousands of years ago, and I'm lucky enough to be able to write this entry sitting in an ancient shop.
Entry 2
Just finished walking through the Imperial Fora.  There is such majesty among the old, crumbling ruins.  I don't really know why some Romans call the columns in the Forum of Nerva ugly.  I think they are just as magnificent as the rest of the remains.  We all found this raised seating overlooking the Forum of Augustus and were able to just sit there and take it all in for a bit.  I was amused by the story of how Augustus was unable to buy one of the houses behind his temple to Mars and was forced to build it asymmetrically.  Poor guy.  We finished with Frini's presentation on the Column of Trajan with its winding, continuous frieze.  The column is absolutely amazing, both in its incredible detail and size, and in the fact that it is so well preserved that it looks like it was finished yesterday.  What an amazing city this is.
Entry 3
I just got back from dinner.  We all took a walk down to this restaurant called al Balestrari.  It was great for two reasons.  The first and most obvious one is that the food was very good.  I had my first pasta dish in Italy, spaghetti with meat sauce.  But the second reason and more important reason is that the meal continued to impress upon me how different Italy is from the US.  Here, everything is connected.  The restaurant just spilled out into the street, and we must have passed at least three other similar places on the walk over.  I really wish life was more like this back home.  There you have such strong barriers between different parts of your day.  It just doesn't flow like in Rome.