A 'Colossal' Day

Early ish start and made it to the Colosseum. Very cool. Lines weren't bad at all and was fine without a tour (probably didn't even need the audioguide). Great seeing it in person (have been looking forward to it and it met expectations). Could semi imagine what it would've been like those many years ago. Didn't get to go underground or to upper levels (booked out) but was good enough. Helped that we knew a fair bit beforehand.

Some fun facts that Radi learnt that Wade already knew (maybe more time reading Horrible Histories and less time reading Goosebumps and Saddle Club in her youth would've helped):

- The site of the Colosseum was originally a privately used lake for emporer Nero (apparently a sucky emporer that no one liked).
- It was comissioned by emperor Vespasian and his successor and heir Titus (part of the Flavian dynasty) to bribe the plebs of Rome to like them and to be like "Hey! We're way cooler than that Nero guy." So they drained the lake and used slaves (around 60,000 apparently) to build it. Guess they didn't particularly care if the slaves liked them.
- The event schedule for the Colosseum wasn't just gladiator battles. The morning was for all kinds of exotic animal battles. They were brought from all around the world and kept underground for a few days prior to battle being starved and mistreated to make them aggressive. The two animals fought each other, the winner going up against hunters. The afternoon was then for the gladiators. And of course the break in between was for public executions - a reminder to the crowd about not getting on the wrong side of the law.
- The events were visually epic with them recreating all kinds of battles and settings eg. creating a jungle for the animal fight.
- A lot of people got money in their pockets through involvement in the colosseum event business. Much like today and tourist revenue!

Then had coffee and cake at a cute wee place where we found an Italian magazine with an article on visiting the wonderful destination of ... New Zealand! Lol.

Onwards to the Basilica of St Clements. But got there just as their afternoon break started, so came back home for lunch. Did some shopping along the way and Radi got a bag and we bought some nice watercolour Rome prints. Stopped by supermarket for more fresh bread and prosciutto (our breakfasts). Decided to have our leftovers at home instead of buying lunch and wasn't half bad.

Headed out again and this time made it to the Basilica. Far more popular at that time but it didn't ruin the experience. Church itself was nothing amazing but you go down to the two levels below.

Basically a nesting doll of churches. Essentially the modern church was built (before 1100) on top of an earlier church, which in turn was built (4th century) on top of an earlier Mithraic temple (2nd century). And you can go all the way down the levels. Basically stepping back in time the further down you went. The bottom level also had an alleyway between two buildings that it was built on. Very cool - although no photos were allowed.

Called it a day as it was raining on and off and threatening more thunder storms so got some dinner (a range of small pizzas - delicious - the fish, peppers and pepperoni on cheese was the best).

Few errands tomorrow and maybe some exploring depending on the weather.Read more