The Colosseum

The Colosseum at Rome is the most visited landmark in Italy. The entry is time controlled and ticketed. Our entry time was 3pm on the second day of our roman holiday. The Colosseum closes at 4:30pm in winter, the Sun sets around 4:40pm. Our late entry allowed us to see the iconic scene we see so many times before on TV, in advertisements, the sunset on the Colosseum, inside and out, as we were leaving.

The Colosseum at Sunset

The Colosseum is located at the center of Rome, and surrounded by many other ruins, such as Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, Roman Forum. This part of Rome is not too big, like the London, we walked to everywhere. 

The second day of our Roman holiday was a beautiful sunny day. Started from our hotel in early morning (8am), we walked to a popular bakery for breakfast, and then went to the Patheon - the temple for all gods. Along the way we stopped at some attractions, and went to another popular restaurant for a late lunch

The Colosseum stands out among the ruins of Roman Forum, as we walked along the pedestrian promenade, Via dei Fori Imperiali, from northwest. 

view of the Colosseum from afar on Via de Fori Imperiali

The figures in the second floor are printed posters

look up at the foot of the Colosseum

When we got inside the Colosseum, we felt its immense size literally! What surprised me was that we did not see the large field in the center, but some rooms, and walkways - which must be the underground structures.

My knowledge of what the inside of the Colosseum looks like was from the movie Gladiator. A model of the early Colosseum shown  in the gallery at the Colosseum is more like what is shown in the movie.

The Colosseum was built during 72D - 80AD as an elliptical amphitheater. It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles. The gladiatorial fight was banned in 399AD. 

Over its nearly 2000 year history, so much has changed. It was damaged by earthquakes and was reconstructed/repaired multiple times, and its usage was influenced by cultural and religious changes. From gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, dramas, it was used for various other purpose later -  a small chapel had been built into the structure of the amphitheater, was converted into a cemetery, housing and workshops. Around 1200 the Frangipani family took over the Colosseum and fortified it, apparently using it as a castle. In the early to mid 14th century, The colosseum was largely abandoned by the public and became a popular den for bandits!

A model of the Colosseum at the Ruins

As we read the exhibits, examined the architecture, and took pictures, the Sun started to set, Moon rose, and the lights became golden. The Colosseum closed at 4:30pm to tourists, we lingered outside for a while, appreciate the the Colosseum in the evening glow, and under the rising moon.

We had a great afternoon at the Colosseum. It is definitely a must-go place in Rome, Italy.

half moon over the Colosseum 

 

Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece. Acropolis means highest point, extremity of a city. 

The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropolis in Greece. The Acropolis of Athens is significant because it contains the ruins of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance. The ruins include The Propylaea -Monumental Entrance, Parthenon - Temple for Goddess Athena, The Erechtheion, Old Temple (flattened, no upright structure standing), Theatre of Dionysus .... The ruins looked more beautiful than the idealized acropolis of Athens in a painting to me.  The ruins embody authentic history, time's passage, and a romantic sense of loss, they evok imagination.

As the high point of Athens, the views from Acropolis is panoramic. We saw Philopappos Hill and Lycabettus Hill, and decided to visit both places after the Acropolis visits.

Since no body lives at Acropolis, and there are trees and bushes, there are many birds at Acropolis, most commonly monk parakeets, magpies, pigeons,  black redstart ...

We were surprised to see many cats, which were usually looked clean and heathy, wandering around ruins at Athens, and monasteries at Meteora. It turned out those are mostly stray cats.  Due to a mix of ancient reverence, mild climate, and centuries of communal care where locals feed the cats, the cats are usually well taken care of.

Acropolis of Athens is recognized as a symbol of ancient Greek civilization, democracy, and Western culture. However it was hard to appreciate the cultural significance of Acropolis of Athens for me due to lack of systematic knowledge of Greek history and mythology. The visit to Athens was more of sightseeing to me, nevertheless it did prompt me to look into Greek culture a little bit more. 

Views of Acropolis from outside of Acropolis of Athens  - close and far

Ruins inside Acropolis of Athens

Propylaea - the monumental entrance to Acropolis of Athens 

Parthenon

Parthenon - from a different viewpoint

Temple of Athena Polias

Theatre of Dionysus

Acropolis of Athens at Night 

Artist's rendering of Acropolis of Athens by the painter Leo von Klenze in 1846

Views from Acropolis

Mt Lycabettus - viewed from Acropolis

Heroon of Mousaios - viewed from Acropolis

The city - viewed from ACropolis

Greek Flag on Acropolis

Birds and Cats at Acropolis

pigeon

russet pigeon

blackredstart - female

dove

magpie

a black cat at outskirt of Acropolis

Meteora Greece

Meteora Greece is the place I liked the most during our 5-day trip at Greece.

Meteora means "lofty", "elevated", and is a peculiar rock formation - a pillar is larger than a typical spire, but not quite a mountain  - they are giant rock pillars and hill like boulders. Mosses on the rocks and foliage at their feet make the area an amazing natural beauty. 

A typical formation of Meteora Rock formation

What make the area unique are the monasteries with red roofs on top of some of the giant rock pillars. The monasteries are Eastern Orthodox Churches.  Twenty-four monasteries were built atop the giant natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders from the second half of the 14th century. Currently Six of these are still active and open to visitors: the monasteries of Great Meteoron (est. 1356), Varlaam, Saint Nicholas Anapausas, Rousanou, Holy Trinity, and Saint Stephen. The latter became a community of nuns in 1961, whereas the former five remain managed by monks.

Meteora's amazing natural beauty and cultural significances make it UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. 

A monastery on top of a rock pillar

We arrived at Meteora in the rainy night of our day 3 at Greece. We saw the silhouette of the rock formations and were eager to see them in the daylight. The hotel we stayed was San Giorgio Villa, which is at the feet of some rock formations.

The next morning, we got up early and walked around the surrounding area before breakfast.

The rain had stopped already, and clouds started to breakup, and moved fast, the air was crisply cool, and the Sun was about to rise. The walkabout was pleasing.

foliage in the town

The Sun was rising

A rock needle under the lit-up cloud 

After breakfast, we drove to the monasteries short distance away (1 - 10 km). 

The first stop was Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas. This is a small monastery we did not go in, but we enjoyed the surrounding vistas a lot. We found out later that we could see this monastery from our hotel room's balcony.

Rainbow over Monastery of St. Nicholas

The valley of Kalabaka

A cluster of rock pillars

looking back at St Nicholas from a higher vista point

The second stop was Holy Monastery of Rousanos. It was closed but had views of surrounding mountains and rock formations. We eventually went into the Holy Monastery of the varlaam - our third stop.

Monastery of Varlaam - viewed from tourist parking lot

Looking down at Holy Monastery of Rousanos which is at lower elevation 

A persimmon tree in front the church 

Virgin Mary is a common subject of paintings and sculptures 

Greek and Eastern Orthodox Church Flags, the latter has a black double-headed eagle in a yellow field

A Cross at the back of the church facing the valley and east

When we came down from the monastery, we wanted to use a different route, which led us to the valley at the foot of the backside of the rock pillar, and a trail from the valley leading to this monastery! We hiked a short distance down and decided to turn back - our car was parked at the top of the rock pillar!

A trail to the monastery

The fourth and last monastery we visited was  Monastery of the Holy Trinity. The road is separated from the monastery by a small valley, we had to hike down to the valley and then climb the rock pillar to the monastery through a tunnel on the side of the rock formation, 1 mile distance round trip.

View of the Holy Trinity from a road side scenic point

Looking back at the monasteries we visited

Semantron - an instrument used to summon monastics to prayer  

The sun rays made this Cross looked especially Holly

We spent about five hours in the Meteroa. 

Natural Beauty and Monastery architecture made Moteroa on the top of my list during this Greek trip.

Notes

1. We did not go to the tow monasteries - the largest and highest one  - Great Meteoron Monastery. We got to the tunnel entrance to the monastery,  only found out that it was closed on that day - the monasteries don't open everyday to tourists. We did not go to the Saint Stephen either, intentionally - it is smaller and not on the convenient path.

2. We were only sightseeing and did not spend too much time on the history and religion. 

3. We went to the largest town Kalabaka in the area, and had a great lunch in a Greek family restaurant. Our hotel was at smaller town - Kastraki

4. We might hike the Meteora if we knew it was this good. 

5. Official site https://visitmeteora.travel/monastery-of-great-meteoron-meteora/