In about 2 weeks we are going to Rome. It’s about an hour and a half train ride from Florence, so when we go, we usually take an early train and then return the same day. If we get there by 9:30 or so in the morning, we can have 12 full hours and then take a late train back to Florence and be home by bedtime. But this time is different. We are specifically going so that we can see the Colosseum at night.

Apparently, the tourist office opens the Colosseum for 10 consecutive Saturday nights, complete with a tour of the hypogeum, the underground area where the animals and gladiators waited before their “performances.” The after-hours schedule starts with the last Saturday in August and ends with October. Wow! What an opportunity. So I went online to find tickets and found NOTHING. The ticketing agencies had their regular daytime visits, but nobody even had a sentence about the nighttime tours. How could this be? One day as I was perusing the news headlines on my Google page, I saw an article from USAToday. If they know this special schedule with the Colosseum, wouldn’t you think someone in Italy might know?

I decided to send one of the ticketing agencies an inquiry. I scanned the site. Woo-hoo This agency included a telephone number—in Florence. So I called and a very pleasant woman answered. “Vorremmo andare al Colosseo alla notte, per favore, We would like to go to the Colosseum at night, please.” “Ah, sì, oh yes,” she answered. Great! I was immediately sure that I called the right person.

With the USAToday article in front of me, I felt armed for the conversation. But, as often happens, the exchange did not go according to plan. It seemed that, yes, the Colosseum was going to be open in the evenings, but she didn’t know when. There would be no tour guide, contrary to what the news article reported. And the only tickets that she had available online were for the normal daytime visits. She informed me that the nighttime tickets could only be purchased through a bank transfer. Bank transfer??!! I don’t think so. But, wait. I told her that since she is in Florence, I could bring the money to her office. She informed me that arrangement wasn’t possible because they don’t have a physical office, only an internet presence. Argh!

Then she came up with a brilliant idea: Her advice was to go online and with my credit card I could buy 2 adult tickets and then buy a “free” 3rd ticket to equal the nighttime ticket price. What??!! Buy ≠ free. She insisted that this could be quite a good way to complete the transaction. Then, she said that after I had completed the online purchase, I should send her a personal email message indicating that we wanted the notturna, nighttime visit. “Maybe it could work,” I thought. “Just maybe.”

Two weeks later, Em and I agreed on a date for our visit. I followed the agent’s instructions. Within an hour she telephoned to say that the tickets were “finished” for that date (which means sold out). She asked if we’d like to have another date. Immediately, I said, “Yes.” She questioned whether or not I needed time to think it over. I was not about to lose another Saturday night. So I assured her that we wanted the first available tickets. “Va bene,okay,” she agreed. Within a few minutes, she emailed me our vouchers with our appointed hour clearly indicated: 9:20 on Saturday night, with an English speaking guide.

A couple of days ago, we got a message from a friend in the US informing us that September 25 is a full moon and the fall equinox. Wow. What synchronicity or coincidence. We think it will be really interesting to be in the Colosseum on that particular night. Everything worked out just right, even though it didn’t feel like it at the time.

***Colosseum photos are from Wikipedia. I’ll post more after we return.

Posted on September 11, 2010

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