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Tag Archives: Colosseum

Adventures In Italy… Post 22: Gimme Shelter

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Angel Tours, Colosseum, Italy, Rain, Rome, Travel, Walking

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Fortunately for us, in spite of the inclement weather there were two major facts that were in our favour today. And this was that we had been on this precise tour before on our first journey to Italy four years ago.

First, we had none of the anxiety over where we were to meet the tour guide, or what would be in store for us in regards to what we could expect from the tour.

Second, we would not have to worry about the heat that we experienced during that hot September day. Temperatures reached ninety two degrees, which may be tolerable if you are in the shade with a cool drink. However, it’s a different story when you are climbing one of the seven hills of Rome, and a steep one at that just so that you can overlook the temple of the vestal virgins.

We knew that we would be meeting our tour guide in front of the subway station located directly across the street from the coliseum.

We had arrived a little early, however the rain arrived right along with us.

The choice was simple: wait outside in the rain, or go inside the subway station and hope that we will somehow, someway cross paths with the tour guide.

Now, there has been a slight unfortunate snag to our journey, which I have yet to explain.

In early September, daughter Jen had a most unfortunate ate tumble down a flight of stairs in her apartment building. This fall down the stairs left at least two ligaments torn, and a possible fracture which was difficult to see in the X-rays because of the major swelling.

Her ankle was black, blue and red. I have never seen anything like it, and I hope to never again.

She did all the right things to prepare herself for the journey, did physio etc, however, her ankle had barely begun to heal by the time our departure date had rolled around. She did bring her air cast with her, but tried to wing it. As far as I’m concerned, she was incredibly stoic, if even to a fault.

Now, just in case you weren’t aware of this, I will now point this out in no uncertain terms:

Subway stations are huge.

If you are to meet up with someone there, you must be on your guard, because you can easily miss them in a heartbeat.

It was then that I could hear Frank question himself out loud:

“Were we suppose to meet the tour guide on this level or the upper level?”

A little grey cloud formed over my head to match the ones outside.

Joy, I thought to myself.

I volunteered to stake out the upper level entrance.

Frank was in his comfort zone here, and there were two long flights of stairs to climb, which excluded Jen from the equation.

Within a few minutes, I had found a nice tree to stand under while the heavens seemed to let loose and hold nothing back. Even birds were beginning to stand alongside of me.

People came, people went, but no sign of the tour guide, or anyone else who might seem to be looking for their tour guide.

Ten minutes later, Jen and Frank arrived, and we continued to stand there together looking up one way and down the other.

Eventually, we noticed a couple standing not too far away, as if waiting for someone as well.

They eventually came close enough so that we could comfortably ask them if they were waiting for a tour guide as well.

Yes, they were.

At about that very time, a small car pulled up, and out emerged two young looking chaps. The moment they opened their umbrellas, we knew that we had found our tour guides.

The tour company we had chosen, the same as the last time we had visited Italy was called Angel Tours.

And of course, if you want to be recognized by your customers, what better way to attract their attention, than by carrying umbrellas adorned with angels.

Sweet!

Our tour was about to begin…

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This this is the most enigmatic door that I have ever seen. Take a close look.

Adventures in Italy… Post 21: Rainy Days And Wednesdays

22 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Travel

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Tags

Colosseum, Forum, Italy, Rick Steves, Rome, Travel

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This was the street view of the Colosseum from our street corner, on a bright September day in 2008. For our second tour in late November 2012, the weather was not so nice…

On the evening of Wednesday, November 28, 2012 …after our second full day in Rome, I made the following entry in my journal:

————————

We were up by 6:a.m.

My head was in a swirl over the strange dream that I had during the night; scuba diving, flying to heaven and oblivion, my aunt wearing a big blue hat.

The first thing I wrote in my Tardis journal was:

“Today will prove to be a challenge of sorts, as the weather appears to be against us.”

Rain.

And to make it worse, Frank did not bring a jacket.

And to make that even worse, he refuses to take an offering of one of the spare hoodies that Jen and I brought along.

At 8:30 a.m. we were ready to depart for our Coliseum / Forum tour after enjoying a quiet breakfast.

I had a double shot of expresso, yogurt and a cream filled croissant.

Jen had a bowl of cereal and Frank had mortadella on a bun.

Before leaving, I made sure that our hotel room was in reasonable order so it wouldn’t be too much of a challenge for when the maid pulls in.

In regards to other news: Frank continues to be mesmerized by the balcony. He sits there and watches as life in Rome goes by.

He says he wants to live here and I believe him.

As for Mother, I got an email message from her this morning.

She says that she has had her surgery and is tired.

I wish I knew what surgery she had.

She gave no further information.

We had all known that it would be likely that Mother would undergo surgery while we were away.

From the information Mother gave me before we left home, it seemed pretty clear that the procedures would be only exploratory in nature. Mother and I both waited a long time for these tests, and I had every confidence that this would be day surgery only.

However, it was a certainty that more procedures would lay ahead. When?… who knows, but I was not blind to the fact that things can change very quickly.

And so, I will make every attempt to try and touch base with her on a daily basis, to let her know that she was loved and to give her whatever support I can from half a world away.

Knowing that she had a host of friends with her was an altogether blessing for both her and myself.

Did I feel guilty that I was not with her?

No, not overly so.

Was I worried.

Yes, a little.

But to be honest…

I knew that she was in good hands and surrounded by wonderful people.

The immediate problem at hand was the pending rainstorm that I knew was waiting for us.

And so, with only two umbrellas…

(we did bring three, but could only find two…)

…We bravely ventured out into what promised to be a most challenging day, weather wise.

Little did I know how challenging it would be.

And so…

As we walked outside, we were met by a modicum of drizzle. But I wasn’t fooled one bit. Mother Nature was not going to be kind to us at all.

The one advantage that we did have was that should the rainstorm prove to be too much for us, we would always be within walking distance to the hotel.

Even so, as we trudged along through the thickening drizzle, I remember continually thinking to myself…

“It’s not too late to turn back, after all, we have seen the Colosseum already.”

However Jen had not, and that is what kept me walking.

But, try as I might those thoughts about how extremely pleasant it would be to spend the day in bed, nestled under the warm bedcovers snickering at the rain kept bubbling up in my brain.

But It was travel guru Rick Steeves voice that kept telling me:

“Sleep is for when you are at home!”

And he was right of course…

I would never want to contradict anything travel related with Rick Steeves.

That man was our hero.

Adventures In Italy… Post 19: The Colosseum

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Travel

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Tags

Adventure, ancient history, Cats, Colosseum, Domus Aurea, Gladiators, Holy Ground, Italy, Rome, Tours, Travel

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On our first trip to Italy in September 2008, we booked a tour of the great Colosseum through Angel Tours.

After all, how could one visit Rome without seeing the Colosseum with your own eyes.

I mean really!

It was a very hot day, not a cloud in the sky and the sun was there in full force.

We met up with our wonderful little chatty tour guide across the street from one of the greatest structures of all time. Oddly enough there was a subway station, right across the street from the Colosseum.

The tour started out with the first two hours going through the Colosseum and then for the second half, we were led through the forum.

Here is what I learned:

-The colosseum is home to hundreds of cats, mostly strays. They are collectively cared for and fed by a group of people dedicated to their welfare. While in the colosseum, I didn’t really see many cats as they live in the lower levels, and generally shy away from the tourists.

-Another thing that I learned was that the Colosseum is now considered Holy Ground on account that many Christians who were slaughtered during a public execution for not denouncing their faith.

-A while back, a pope declared that those who had died in the Colosseum defending their faith were now martyrs, thus deeming the Colosseum as Holy Ground.

-Another interesting fact is that original materials from the Colosseum were used for start up materials in helping to build St. Paul’s Cathedral.

-The Colosseum has a working modern day glass elevator. It holds about ten.

-The Colosseum was designed for easy crowd dispersal. The entire audience of 45,000 to 55,000 could exit the building in five minutes.

-In ancient times brothels would advertise they were open for business by etching phalluses into the Colosseum walls. The larger the phallus, the bigger the brothel.

-The Colosseum was built over the site where Emperor Nero had built his lavish swimming pool.

-Once a year, the Pope visits the Colosseum and holds mass there.

The dynamics of this place can be quite overwhelming. Outside the walls of the Colosseum are incredibly busy streets filled with Vespas, luxury cars, city buses, and every minute or so, you can hear a nearby ambulance siren careening off into the distance.

Believe it or not, I did not see one shop or vender within the walls of this incredible ancient building. I suppose they left that business to the incessant pedlars stationed outside the gates who are visible day and night, nonstop.

On our second visit to Rome, we decided to pay the Colosseum one more visit.

It was quite a different experience from the first time.

I’ll leave that story for another day.

Thanks for reading!

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Inside the Colosseum Gates. This is where you will find the brothel etchings. Look closely and you may find one.

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The stairs are slanted slightly forward to help speed up crowd dispersal.

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Our wonderful chatty little tour guide. 

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The view from a Colosseum window. The grounds by the buildings in the centre of the photo were being excavated as they found that was the sight of the gladiator school. Also, deeper within the grounds shown in this photo is the Domus Aurea, or the remains of Nero’s palace. I’ve put that on my bucket list. They say the painted frescos still retain their colour and are absolutely breathtaking. The Domus Aurea is rarely opened to the public as it is an archeological dig in process. There are many safety concerns with flooding and water damage.

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