After a grueling flight with only a little sleep, we landed in Luxor this morning. We have started touring the temples and trying our best to absorb as much of the fascinating history as we can. Tonight we will enjoy a light and music show at the Karnak Temple. We are looking forward to the days ahead.
We were fortunate when we were in Frankfurt to live just a couple of blocks from Freßgass (Fressgass), which is a pedestrian street with shops and restaurants. Freßgass literally means grazing street and we probably ate at one of the restaurants almost every day. There are also a lot of high end shops on the street as well as some typical malls with department stores. With so many places to eat and shop, it is obviously quite popular and can be very busy at times.
Regardless of the time of year, Freßgass is a great place to take a leisurely walk, window shop, and just generally people watch. All of the restaurants have outdoor seating with umbrellas or tents over top of them as well as heating lamps for the cold winter days. One of the things that we love about Europe is the willingness of people to sit outside regardless of the weather, even sitting outside on a cold and rainy day because of the heat lamps. You can find every type of food from traditional, upscale, carry-out, to street carts with bratwurst and pretzels.
If you are interested in high-end clothing stores from top designers, then you can find anything that you are looking for. We didn’t do any shopping in those types of stores, but did take advantage of the department stores as well as electronic stores while we were there. Also, twice a week, there are outdoor markets with flowers, fruit and vegetables, as well as novelty items. It is also only a couple of blocks from Old Town, so if you have had your fill of modern shops, the historic area is just minutes away. It is also the place to be during the many festivals as well as during the Christmas season to find the largest markets. In other words, you can pretty much find anything you want in this area that is in the heart of downtown Frankfurt.
The Colosseum in Rome, Italy, is one of those iconic locations that anyone who visits the city must take the time to explore. Because of its popularity, be prepared for long lines and you will likely have tour guides offer to let you jump to the front of the line if you are willing to pay for a tour, which isn’t actually a bad idea. Another good idea is to buy the bundled ticket that includes the Roman Forum as well, which is equally fascinating. There have been many movies that have attempted to recreate what it must have been like to have gone to one of the performances at the Colosseum with all of the animals, gladiators, and other performers. Visions of those elaborate shows, called munera, must have been truly amazing and in many ways was a predecessor to the modern Walt Disney World theme parks.
One of the amazing features of the Colosseum is the two-story structure called the hypogeum that was underneath a wooden floor that was covered by sand. It is a series of tunnels and cages that housed all of the animals and gladiators that would be brought up to the floor of the arena so that the crowd didn’t get a glimpse of them until the performance began. Obviously, these performances were often bloody battles between the gladiators as well as animal hunts that featured exotic creatures such as rhinos, giraffes, elephants, and of course lions. It must have been truly exciting and almost magical for the people of first century AD that attended these elaborate performances.
Even with the paintings depicting the many different performances that also included battle reenactments, dramas based on the mythology of the time, and even mock sea battles, it is still hard to truly comprehend the sophistication of these shows. With audiences as large as 80,000 and averaging around 65,000 people, there was more than just the thousands of animals, gladiators, and performers needed to amaze the crowds. Hundreds of talented artists created props and sceneries with intricate details to add to the overall ambiance of the massive exhibitions.
Today, the Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is a unique landmark in the heart of Rome that is often the subject of paintings by local artists. In this world with all of our skyscrapers and other modern buildings, it is often taken for granted how much creativity and ingenuity it must have taken to build such an arena during the period in which it was created. There are many fascinating things to see in a city that is so rich with history and art, but the Colosseum is definitely one sight that must be seen. It can be viewed in as few as a couple of hours, but you will probably want to spend more time if you want to truly understand and comprehend its historical significance.
