Great Big History

A day time visit to the Coliseum is a stark contrast to the tranquility of a late evening visit. It ranks as the 37th(only) most visited place in the world but for a guys that loathes crowds it might have well been the top spot.

I don't mind waiting in line to do stuff. Today Nic and I only had this on the agenda. For the 30 minutes you wait here, seemingly weather you have a reservation or not, you are swarmed by street merchants trying to sell you water or souvenirs or by guides trying to sell you a guided tour along with the promise of skipping the line. For one group next to us, they seemed to buy the guided tour that put them inline with the rest of us. 

One thing about this place is that it's very hard to find definitive information on how to find legitimate services. Even the Rick Steves guide book doesn't wrap it all up for you.

I can handle crowds when I'm prepared for them. People who aggressively try to sell you stuff is really outside my culture comfort.

Once inside, Nic and I dialed up the Rick Steves Coliseum tour podcast. If you don't have access to this podcast, you can just go home and watch Gladiator instead. They're about the same.

Making this stop in Rome, one needs to be prepared to share you space, especially with the Selfie Stick people trying to get the perfect smile combined with the  perfect background shot. 

Yes I blog. I took this picture of my wife.

The view from the second level shows how busy this place gets.

Looking outward towards the Ancient Roman Forum

The Arch of Titus, the entrance of the Forum.

The Basilica of Constantine. Emperor Constantine was the one who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. In 380 AD, you were normally thrown to the lions for being a Christian. 20 years later, you were in the same boat for not being one.

Looking out onto the forum.

The door to the temple of Romulus.