The Flavian Amphitheatre... what a site! Gradually renamed over the years by association to the 37 metre high, bronze Colossus of Nero statue which stood before it, the Colosseum used to bring in about 50,000 spectators a day. And it seems like it's still got that pulling power today.
Built for the purpuse of entertainment, the classes of Rome would be given tickets so that they may pass through the grand arches for free. Oh, how times have changed. Now sealed with iron gates and computerised turnstiles, the whole reason the Colosseum exists has been defeated. I could almost feel the fallen gladiators rolling around in their graves under my feet. At least back then you had animal & hunting games in the morning and gladiatorial games in the evening... something I'm sure the Romans would have even been happy to pay for. Now you pay to see an almost ruin from a once great civilisation, and a complete ruin of that civilisation's spirit. Another backward step for mankind.
Some locals from Florence invited me to join them to see one of Europe's highest waterfalls."You have to pay for everything in Italy," they said as we paid for admittance to the natural landmark. "This is typical Italian."
Built for the purpuse of entertainment, the classes of Rome would be given tickets so that they may pass through the grand arches for free. Oh, how times have changed. Now sealed with iron gates and computerised turnstiles, the whole reason the Colosseum exists has been defeated. I could almost feel the fallen gladiators rolling around in their graves under my feet. At least back then you had animal & hunting games in the morning and gladiatorial games in the evening... something I'm sure the Romans would have even been happy to pay for. Now you pay to see an almost ruin from a once great civilisation, and a complete ruin of that civilisation's spirit. Another backward step for mankind.
Some locals from Florence invited me to join them to see one of Europe's highest waterfalls."You have to pay for everything in Italy," they said as we paid for admittance to the natural landmark. "This is typical Italian."
