I didn’t realize Roman forum and Palatino were that big. I started early in the morning and finished in late afternoon. I had to skip some places because I was too tired. I then walked to Colosseum but was told it was closed! 🙁 I had my ticket in my hands. I was so disappointed. Lucky that some tour guides there told me I could use my ticket to get into Colosseum the next day. The ticket was valid for two consecutive days!! Yeah!!
The Colosseum, which is very close to the Roman Forum
The plate something about the amphitheater.
This reminds me of Persepolis in Iran. I wonder why those people in the past liked to carve ‘3D’ carvings like this. Maybe in 1,000 years, those generations will ask why we interact in Metaverse now.
Where was I? Ah! I should be in Roman Forum.
I think this is a mythical creature.
It looks like a disc on the ground.
Can someone tell me why ancient mythical creatures had wings? Like these lions, why did they have wings? Why did our ancestors give them wings? Did they drink Red Bull too? 😛
Inside the museum. Wings again.
Look at the feathers! They looked so real!!!
You can imagine the glory days of this Roman Forum just by looking at this garden.
It’s a bit strange to see such a huge piece of ruins sitting in the middle of a modern city. I wonder if the site is being restored.
Arc de Triomphe? Why are there so many of them in Europe? Ah, some of the countries were ruled by the same emperors at one stage so the emperors built similar architecture everywhere so that wherever they went, they’d feel like home. I am just guessing. Well, I would do the same too if I were those emperors. 😛
I went into this museum.
Some paintings inside the museum lost so much of their colours that I couldn’t see the paintings at all. I had to use my camera and manipulate the aperture and shutter speed (no flash) to find out what the paintings were like.
This one was being restored. You may see the chalk-marks at the bottom right.
Some more ruins
I vaguely remember I went up to a little hill outside the Roman Forum to take this photo. You can see the light in this photo – evening light.
A close up of the 3D figures on the arch. 😀 You can see the light in the photo – the evening light.
Don’t bite me! But I am not a liar so I was fine. 🙂
Not too many tourists in this area. Maybe it was a bit late.
Campidoglio
Campidoglio – yes, it was definitely late. The clock said 6pm. I couldn’t stay here for too long too.
He had a surgery in his nose and eyebrows. I wonder what accident he had gone through.
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II
They all had six pack. 🙂
A winged lioness or tiger. It didn’t look fierce. Rather, it looked sad. But I think my focus was the bird which was on its head when I took this photo. 😛
The ruins at night
The Colosseum at night
The Colosseum during the day. You can find more about the gladiators here. For me, it’s hard to believe that some voluntarily became a gladiator.
This mosaic depicts how the gladiators fought with the animal. Hm… did they really fight? It looked like the gladiator was trying to calm the animal but he had a dagger/ knife / sword in his other hand.
Stone carving depicting how the gladiators fought with each other.
The structure of the Colosseum
Inside the Colosseum. You can see what’s beneath the stage here. It didn’t take me the whole day to finish visiting the Colosseum. So, it was good that I spent the entire day in Roman Forum and the other places yesterday.
I would be sitting here watching the game.
Or maybe sitting somewhere with a cover to watch the game. But I am sure I wouldn’t be on the stage even if I was a man in my past life. 😀
The place badly needed repair.
I went down to the stage to check out all the designs underneath the stage.
The cross at the Colosseum. You can watch the Way of Cross at the Colosseum 2022 here.
After visiting the Colosseum, I took a train to Venice. The trains were better than I thought and with the help of the hostel, I booked a few ‘business’ class or ‘first’ class ones at a low price. 🙂
This one to Venice was a normal one but I met an Italian guy who was sitting next to me and two American ladies who came in with two paper bags of McDonalds. When the Italian guy saw it, he grimaced. We shared the same table so we started talking for the entire journey. The two ladies were mother and daughter. The Italian guy was working in the Silicon Valley in Italy (Sila Valley) developing websites and app for pubs and bars. I didn’t know how his app worked and he said it was a secret so I stopped asking. When I think back now, it could be those we use nowadays – taking orders and settling the bills. The mother told us they wanted to try the McDonalds in Italy and it was their first time to try it. The Italian guy was happy to hear that. It’s true. Why would you eat McDonalds when there were so many nice restaurants in Italy? The mother asked the Italian guy how her daughter found a boyfriend in Italy. The Italian guy said, ‘just shout “I am rich!” then you can find one.’ 😀 That was so funny. I was told we had to buy ferry tickets all the time so we might as well buy a pass. So I shared that information with the family.
After we got off the train, we headed to the ticket booth to buy the pass. There were a few of them so I went to check. The mother thought I went missing because I was out of her sight and she kept looking for me. It was so kind of her. In the end, we found the right ticket booth and bought the tickets. After that, we went separate ways.
I checked in my hostel and was so surprised! It was like a hotel with a bar downstairs that served quite good food. It felt a bit like the one I stayed at in La Paz but this one was way quieter. Lovely. 🙂
Venice, I will see more of you tomorrow! 😀
10 – 11 March 2015
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