Friday, May 20, 2011

Tour of Rome, Italy and Rome Colosseum (Day 2)-Part 2


For this tour, my Dear and I have invested quite a substantial amount, purchasing large luggage, Timberland boots for use on Mount Titlis, Switzerland as well as sling bags to protect ourselves from thieves and robbers. Chan Brothers’ tour manager kept reinforcing to be extra vigilant and careful in Rome, as the message of many pickpockets is being hammered to us. There is a saying and I quote, “In Rome, do as the Romans do” and from what I have been reading about Rome since my early days, Rome is a place I must travel and which I find interesting.

A local Italian woman was hired to give the briefing to our tour group. Basically she briefed us on the history of the colosseum before leading us through two or three long flights of stone stairs to the top of the colosseum. I have never seen anything like that: majestic stone structure which has stood the annals of time.There was so much crowd that everyone is having fun.


I have never watched the movie “The Gladiator” but now here I was, with my wife at Rome Colosseum, the first stop of our European tour. This world-famous tourist landmark and icon was packed with tourists and visitors. The sun was unbearably hot and so was the UV, painting my transition lens an opaque black!


Yup, the colosseum was famous for gruelling fights of warriors and between warriors and animals. We took the stairs to the top of the colosseum, for which we had a bird’s eye view. Naturally, cameras were up and the many clicks of the shutter followed suit. As usual, my wife and I felt the extreme heat and UV of Rome. We were quite tired as well, not having slept for more than a day. We were dirty and smelt of dust and the sand that blew toward us at the colosseum.

But it was GREAT to visit Rome and be at one of the oldest icons of civilisation!

The group took photos after photos. I felt amazed to be at the site where Roman gladiators and heros fought with one another and with animals.