Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Rome Holidays - Finale: Colosseum

The grand finale of our Rome Holidays is, of course, reserved for the Colosseum!

Colosseum and a Wedding couple

Colosseum is one massive arena.  Its shape reminds you of modern stadiums.  Yes, you are right, modern stadiums are modeled on the Colosseum.  Two thousand years ago, the architects already mastered the knowledge of crowd control.  They knew how to let large number of people in and out of a single venue in the shortest time.

If you wonder why the Colosseum was built on its current site, then you need to know Emperor Nero.  He is one of the worst reputed emperors in the Roman history.  After he was forced to commit suicide, his successor decided to alien himself from Nero.  For that purpose, they built the Colosseum on the site where Nero's palace used to be.

At Colosseum, Romans were entertained, just like today, people are being entertained in modern stadiums, although the games are more civilized, and less life threatening.

For photographers, just for your information, the exterior of the Colosseum is copyright free, but the interior of the Colosseum is not.  You can't sell your interior photos as stock.

The cost of the ticket to visit Colosseum and Palatine Hill is 10 Euros.  It is not expensive, but the queue is the killer.  Do you think the Colosseum is big?  The queue can go around the Colosseum, go figure yourself.

Around the Colosseum, it is a busy place.  Waves and waves of tourists from all around the world.  There is also a segway tour in Rome, but it is not cheap.

Segway Tours in Rome

If you want to jump the queue and pay nothing to have a peep of Palatine Hill, the center most of the seven hills of Rome, and also the most ancient part of Rome, you can climb up the small hill behind the metro station.  You can have a free view of the Palatine Hill, and witness the era of Rome as the city of brick!

Palatine Hill

With a satisfied heart, we concluded our 2-day venture to Rome.  We took the 6.20pm high speed train at Roma Termini and returned to Milan, in a short 3 hours.


You can find all my Rome Holidays posts here

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