When Shelly and Ken told us they were taking a Mediterranean Cruise and asked if we wanted to tag along we said, "Oh, I don't know. Sounds kinda boring. Probably not."
Oh wait!
That's not what happened at all!
That's not what happened at all!
We jumped at the chance.
There is something indescribably thrilling about seeing famous ancient places in person.
When you go to a place like THE Colosseum that you've seen a zillion times in pictures over the years, you get a little lightheaded. You pinch yourself a few times. You wonder if you're really still asleep and dreaming on that hideously long airplane ride.
We toured the Colosseum with headphones that led us from point to point. We learned things like the fact that the Colosseum was built of sand and cement beginning in 72 AD and ending in 80 AD. I think it's pretty incredible to finish any government-involved project in 8 years, much less one of this enormous scope.
The Colosseum was built to hold 50,000 to 76,000 spectators. It was used for gladiator contests, plays, re-enactments, and executions. You can see that the floor is missing due to age, exposing the place they keep animals, used both for shows and executions. If you were condemned to death, you might get torn apart by a hungry animal. They used a variety of animals for shows and executions, including bears, rhinos, elephants, lions, giraffes, ostriches, crocodiles, tigers, hippos and others. I was writing as fast as I could listen, and missed a few. I'm going to have to assume ostriches and giraffes were not involved in executions.
Despite what you may have seen in the movies, Christians were probably not slaughtered in great numbers here. There was a period of great persecution of Christians, and many Christians were put to death, but most experts believe they were killed in other places in Rome.
By the medieval era, the Colosseum was no longer used for entertainment. Over time it was used for housing, stores, a fortress, a quarry, a place for a religious order, and a shrine. At one time, there was a chapel built into one side of the arena, and it has also been used as a graveyard. Those ancient folks are master recyclers.
Entrepreneurs used these covered spaces as apartments and stores. This was the main entrance for VIPs in ancient days, and the Colosseum had an excellent system to empty out quickly, involving strategically placed wide stairways around the Colosseum.
Like ancient buildings everywhere, the Colosseum is in sad shape due to earthquakes, fires, and looters. Like ancient buildings everywhere, it is in a current and constant state of renovation.
At one point in more modern history, somebody in a position of authority thought it would be good to hold bullfights in the Colosseum..
The idea was quickly pulled after public outrage.
Apparently, modern Romans don't have the taste for violence and blood their ancestors did.
I'm okay with that.
I always find the workmanship of these ancient places to be astonishing, done without the modern tools of the current generation.
We returned to the Colosseum on our final day and learned about the heavy involvement of the Catholic church to the current Colosseum, but more about that later.
These are some of the entrances/exits, later used as "workshops", a place to buy goods or services.
The old and the new(er).
On the first day when we viewed the Colosseum, I imagined these holes were from ancient wars. I later learned the building was covered with statues, friezes, and other works of art that were later removed, destroyed, or stolen. These holes are the way the art was attached to the building. A metal rod would affix the art to the building. Sometimes thieves were after art, and sometimes the object was to steal the metal rod and the statue or art was pulled off and discarded.
The walking surface is mostly original.
There were lots of pieces sitting around, waiting to be added to the restoration.
I would use this as a garden stool.
What's underneath the pretty decorative walls.
Next to the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, built to commemorate the reign of Constantine and his victory in battle over the former emperor. It's always good to honor the new guy.
It was built around 314 AD, and placed in the area an emperor would naturally come through when entering the city.
I looked up the translation of the words on top of the Arch of Constantine, and it basically says "Constantine is amazing, strong, smart, and terrific".
It is covered with statues,
round relief and friezes depicting the events that prove Constantine's amazingness,
View through the arch.
There are a number of monuments, bridges, and arches in this area.
Ruins around the Colosseum.
We later learned all of these arches had a statue in them at one time, sort of a "this is my area of the arena" marking devise for the more wealthy patrons.
A lot of the original exits are blocked in an effort to preserve the original steps.
The Colosseum sees 4 million (and 4) tourists a year, making it the 39th most visited spot on earth, at least according to wikipedia.
There were a few modern statues in the area. At least I think they're modern.
Ken found his doppelganger.
I was to learn a few things on this vacation. Lesson #1: Selfie sticks were EVERYWHERE. Holy cow, I've never seen so many selfie-takers in my life. I thought selfies were passe. Not in the Mediterranean!
Lesson #2: Toilets here do not have lids. Seriously. We got some cockamamie explanation about how the toilets are ROUND and the specialty round replacement lids are EXPENSIVE. I would have been delighted by more ordinary oval, lidded toilets.
Lesson #3: Don't order Hawaiian pizza from an Italian restaurant in Italy. 'Nuf said.
Lesson #4: Italy is the home of gelato, but you will need to look long and hard for good gelato. Here I ordered two of my favorites: pistachio and lemon. The cheap cone stuck on top should have tipped me off, like someone had dropped it on the floor and quickly scooped it up into a bowl to serve to us.
Soon it was time to head to our ship.
It didn't take long to spot our ship, we just couldn't find a way to actually get TO our ship. We walked one way all around the harbor, then the other, but there didn't appear to be a way to get in. We must have gotten in 5-6 miles. We asked several people, who waved and pointed, and off we'd go, only to find ourselves unable to get beyond the fence. We were beginning to be seriously concerned about boarding before it sailed, until finally we discovered you had to get on a van to get through the gate to get on the boat. Sheesh.
We were literally The. Last. People. To. Board. My anxiety was pretty high, but despite our talent for being "last" several more times, we were in for one of the most fun weeks of our life.
