September 24: This was part 2 of our visit to Rome and after visiting the Forum, we got into the bus and arrived at the entrance to the Colosseum. Colosseum and the Forum are not too far apart.
Colosseum also known as Flavian Amphitheatre was constructed between AD72-AD 96, the largest of its kind with a seating capacity between 50,000 to 80,000. It had all kinds of built-in contraptions even to enact naval wars and battles. It was a symbol of the Imperial Rome and one of the most famous of Rome's attractions. Hardly any tourist will miss this spot. The name Colosseum came because of a gigantic statue of Nero nearby.
The last time we were in Rome, the crowd was not as bad as this time. It was so crowded that you literally had to wade through. Since we had a group ticket and an efficient tour director and a local guide who knew the ropes, we had very little problem. Still there was a slight delay. We avoided going up the stairs to second level but used the elevator to get to the Cavea.
The pictures in the post roughly shows how much of the Colosseum we visited. During out previous visit years ago, the crowd was leaner, and we could even walk around the Hypogeum. This time we mostly stayed on and around Cavea, where the spectators would watch the gladiators fighting each other or with the wild animals.
Video of our tour with more pictures here, click link to view:
After spending over an hour or so we walked to our bus, past the Arch of Constantine to return to the hotel.
Here are two great pictures from Al Kehew's Pinterest site.
Since lunch was not arranged by the tour company we went out for lunch at a nearby place called Lampada. It was a small restaurant quite nearby to the hotel and the guy who served knew quite a bit of English. At that hour there were not many in the restaurant as it was past the normal lunch time and we could sit near the large window to watch the traffic on the road.
Source: Yelp
Source: Four Squre
I could get quite a bit of vegetarian items from the buffet and the food was pretty good. I recommend this place if you are a vegetarian. I avoided the wine because of a worsening throat condition.
We returned to the hotel to get ready for the next part.
Visit to the Borghese gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment