Breakfast was a challenge this morning. We arrived in the breakfast room at the same time as hoards of Italian tourists. There seems to be no such thing as a queue; jump in when and where you want! But the early morning wake up call and the challenges of breakfast were worth the effort in order to be at the coliseum well before the crowds. In fact, the coliseum was almost empty when we arrived. Our local guide Cristina explained things is detail. Did you know that spectators in the coliseum used tickets made of wood, that there tickets had section numbers that corresponded to the numbers on the doors, people had seasons tickets, it was covered in light colored marble, there were statues in the arches, there were three walls, and the statues were painted bright colours? Neither did I! There used to be a retractable canvas roof that was hoisted to different heights by professional sailors - maybe we can get BC Place to look into the possibility. The 'back stage' was actually under the surface of the coliseum and currently it is exposed but the group who manages the facility is covering up one end with a cement and wood platform to show how it looked years ago.
We walked to the Forum and found that the original sites are now two or three stories below our current gowned level. Archiologists have excavated swaths of 2000 year old artifacts. Ten years ago they began digging up a bus loop to find more ruins. We saw the altar of Ceasar where Julius Ceasar was cremated after that incident on the Ides of March, the Senate, the home of the vestal virgins whose job it was to keep the fire burning in Rome, and much, much more!
Just when we thought our brains were full, Danilo brought the coach back and we made our way to Vatican City.
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