Mar 10, 2008 16:52
Well, today didn't turn out how we planned and we are much better for it. Our original plan was to head to Pompeii and get some pictures with my miniature volcano from "The Downfall of Pompeii" board game and the real Vesuvius. Well, after some debate and advice from our tour guide, we instead stayed in Rome and took a tour of the Roman Forum and Colosseum. How cool. Palantine Hill holds many ancient buildings, arches and other piles of bricks. Actually, one of the neater spots is the Temple to Julius Caesar. It's mostly a pile of stone, but it is the spot (or as near as smart people with many degrees can tell) where Caesar's body was cremated in public, rather than in a private showing. People still leave little gifts or flowers. The Colosseum is grand. Really and truly. I mean, I've been inside bigger stadiums. With a standing room, the Colosseum held 70,000 people, sitting it was 55k. Bobby Dodd Stadium holds 55k. Tennessee's stadium holds 110k. Size, not impressive. Size + Age == Hella-impressive. The fact that this has stood up for more than a thousand years, through 2 earthquakes and the Catholic Church, the thing still stands and they even hold concerts there in the summer. Awesome feat of engineering.
After a great lunch, we headed to a spot about 20 minutes outside of Rome: Ostia Antiqua. It was recommended as an alternative to Pompeii. No bodies, but the place is near perfectly preserved. The town was a major port, but was abandoned when the river Tiber shifted away. The city has only a few places that are chained off due to a short drop or mosaics or whatever. Speaking of mosaics, some almost intact mosaics in the temple of Neptune were phenomenal. And all of this stuff is just kind of sitting there. 6 Euro to get in and you have free run of the place. We only got about 1/3 of the way in before the gods frowned on us and the rain came. We got a bit drenched and then headed back to the city. BTW, it was a good call to skip Pompeii. Some kids we ran into went down and got completely rained out. 3 hr trip each way to Pompeii. Go us! Tomorrow: Rome on our own.