Roman Holiday: Day 3 - The Colosseum

Coloseum

On Saturday morning, after eating breakfast and purchasing our Metro tickets, we went to the Colosseum. It was early in the day, so the line wasn’t very long when we got there. I found a great spot in line – most people were standing in a single file line and there were 5 tills open, so I went with several other people to stand in a shorter line. After they were sure that I wasn’t going to be attacked by other tourist for “cutting” in line, Michael and Kara joined me.

Travel Tip: At the time of this writing, the Colosseum does not accept any payment other than cash, so make sure that you have enough on hand to cover your entrance fee (€11 when we were there). When you’re like us and depend mostly on credit cards while on vacation, it can really put a dent in your pocket book if you haven’t brought enough cash along for your trip. You might be able to use credit to purchase your tickets online, or purchase the Rome Pass which includes the Colosseum.

Once inside, we all enjoyed the vast sight before us! We took tons of pictures, but they don’t even begin to show what it was like to really be there. In ancient Roman times, the Colosseum housed gladiator fights. These were flights where men would against another gladiator or an animal. Gladiators were usually slaves who were owned by masters or criminals. The contests lasted until one gladiator was killed or badly wounded; the wounded man threw away his weapons and begged for mercy from the crowd and the emperor.

The crowd would shout out its verdict, but the final decision was left up to the emperor. If the gladiator had fought well, the emperor could spare his life by giving the "thumbs-up" sign; if the gladiator had not fought well, the emperor would give the thumbs-down sign and the winner would kill the losing gladiator. If the gladiator won, he would sometimes win his freedom.

We took our time exploring – and listening to some of the other tourists’ impressions. There was a group of 3 or 4 American high school students standing around us at one particular lookout point. We were cracking up by the time they left, and then they became the brunt of our jokes for the remainder of our trip. This might sounds cruel of us, but after you read their conversation, I think you’ll understand.

First Girl: “Wow, this is so…epic!”
Guy: “Yeah, it’s really tight, you know?”
Second Girl: “It’s just so dope, man!”

Now do you understand?!? It was hilarious! I must be getting old. I thought of all the words we used in school and how cool we thought we were way back when. Believe it or not, Mom and Dad, I shook my head and laughed. How funny you must have thought we were!