Check-in time was 3 pm but I had emailed the hotel months before and they said we could drop off our luggage before sightseeing.
Here's the hotel.
It sits across from the Pantheon
We'll literally have to get back to the hotel later as we are just here to drop off the luggage and get started on our tour with Rome in Limo. While we were stopped at the hotel we decided to get an espresso. We found a busy coffee bar just a few yards from the hotel and went in. We were being ignored by the baristas but luckily Franco came in, saw the issue and showed us how it's done ("when in Rome..."). Unlike in the USA where you order and then pay in Rome it is the reverse. You go to the cash desk first, order your drinks, pay and then take the receipt to the baristas and wait your turn.
Franco bought us our first coffees in Rome and they were fantastic! This ain't no Starbucks!
Suitably energized we got back in the Mercedes (which I will call CAR from here on in to make it easier) and set off through the tight narrow streets to our first scenic stop......
The most recognized building in Rome-the Colosseum.
We parked across the street under some trees to keep the car in the shade. Franco came with us to smooth the entry process. We already had tickets, bought months in advance via the Colosseum website so did not have to join the hundreds of people lined up in the sun. He spoke to the security guards at the entrance and was allowed in to lead us to where we needed to be to begin our self-tour.
This really helped as it was noisy and crowded and somewhat confusing in there with so many people going this way and that way. He showed us how to use the ticket-reading machines and then left us to return to the car, having first given us a cellphone to reach him when we were through with our tour.
Nothing had really prepared us for how big it was inside- it could seat over 50,000 spectators and each one had an assigned seat and a specific entrance to go through-features we would be familiar with in a modern stadium including toilets and food stands.
Part of the floor, where the action took place, has been re-created (bottom left of photo). The warren of holding cages for wild animals and gladiators, props and scenery is visible on the bottom Right.
There was a gladiator school near the Colosseum and pens for the animals. Both gladiators and animals would enter the Colosseum on game days through underground tunnels and when needed for combat would be hoisted up through trapdoors on elevators via pulleys and ropes.
There were screens in use-the gladiator would be in the arena and half a dozen screens in various locations would pop up. A wild animal (sometimes of a kind never seen before in Rome, but brought from Africa and elsewhere) would be raised up behind one of them. But which one?
Long gone are the giant canvas awnings that were attached high in the amphitheater to act as shades to keep spectators cool on sunny days (which in Italy seems to be every day). They were hoisted by sailors from the Roman fleet who were familiar with block and tackle.
Walls were made of various materials and often a mixture of concrete (recently invented), red bricks and quarried stone brought from 17 miles away.
There's an interesting painting showing a cutaway view of the stadium in use, where you can see a wild animal has just emerged on the floor to meet a waiting gladiator (top Right).
Walls built to last...
To be continued....
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