V is for Vagabond

What just happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 10:25:00 +0000

Eight years ago I remember casting my absentee ballot from Shanghai and then later watching Barak Obama get elected President from a crappy little hostel in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. It was a joyous occasion, we were finally rid of the disaster that was George W. Bush. I remember the local Cambodians rejoicing as well, some in Obama t-shirts.

Fast forward to today and I'm not sure what I just witnessed. I do think middle america has been left behind and many of the jobs of yesterday have become obsolete, but repudiating any kind of progress by electing the most unqualified candidate in my lifetime is truly unbelievable. I never thought we could have a worse president than George W Bush. Oh how wrong I was.

Fira Old Port

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Whether you are going to take a boat cruise around the Volcano or a view of the Oia sunset from a ship you'll need to get to the Old Port of Fira. You can get down there three ways. The easiest and non-smelly way is to take the cable car; a one way ticket costs 4 euros per person. You may also take a donkey ride down the 5 or 600 steps down. These are rather large steps covered in donkey excrement, yuck, talk about smelly. The last way is to actually walk these steps... If you choose to walk I recommend you use shoes that you plan to throw away. The smell afterwards doesn't ever really leave your shoes. Interestingly I learned that people that work at the shops at the Old Port take the cable car everyday. They get a reduced rate but must purchase a pass for an extended period of time making it not worthwhile for tourists.

Entrance to the cable car

The Old Port of Fira.

My arch-nemesis of Santorini: The Donkeys.... laying booby traps for me on every step!

Old Port from the Cable car.

Fira

The donkeys bringing tired tourists back to Fira.

Cable car station at the bottom.

Fira

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 07:41:00 +0000

Fira is the main city on Santorini. Simliar to Oia, the city itself is a maze of white washed tourist trap shops. Wander through the throngs of tourists, dodge the ATVs while crossing the street and scurry past shop keepers and their cries of "Where are you from?" There are restaurants everywhere, a breath taking view of the volcano, travel agencies and souvenir shops at every corner. When you're ready to see the volcano take the cable car or a donkey ride down the cliff to the old port and join one of the many tour boats available.

I regret that after reviewing my pictures I did not take any that show the chaos of Fira, or the mazes of shops. So the following will have to do.

A view of the volcano from Fira.

Fira Map

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 07:46:00 +0000

A map of Fira, Santorini.

My Santorini Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 22:05:00 +0000

We stayed at a family run hotel called Angel Cave Homes that was once a cave home.

They left us some home made wine.

Nice place to sleep.

This was the view of the town and part of the caldera.

Same view at dusk.

Another view from my room.

The grandmother that lived there made us breakfast everyday. Yum! Greek yogurt and honey (of course), OJ, coffee, tea. The bread thingy with tomatos and cheese on top is called dakos and it was good!

Ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast along with greek yogurt and honey. OJ, coffee and tea.

Ham and cheese sandwich breakfast up close.

Oia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Oia, known for its magical sunset is where I stayed in Santorini. The town itself was a lot smaller than I imagined. Think small town, small and of course white washed buildings. Santorini hasn't been a secret for years and because of this the entire town is pretty much a tourist trap. Still, tons of tourists still come for the picturesque buildings, windmills and a sunset so amazing people clap for it.

White washed buildings of Oia

The Old Castle at Oia, the BEST place to get pictures of the sunset.

The Old Castle in Oia is without a doubt the best place to get pictures of the sunset. You'll need to get here early because it gets very crowded by dusk. Come sunset every inch of the castle is covered in tourists and across the way hoards of tourists who have made reservations overflow the nearby cafes for a view. Some people even stand on the rooftop for the sunset. And yes, it's all for the sunset shown in the picture at the top of this entry. When the sunset is over people start clapping. Yes, that's either a bit cheesy or the sunset is that amazing -- I'll let you be the judge of that yourself.

The Old Castle offers an amazing view of the sun setting into the ocean and the picturesque white washed buildings and windmills along the cliff's edge.

Hoards of tourists line the Old Castle, cafes, balconies and roof tops for the legendary Oia sunset.

Tourists clap for the sunset in Oia, Santorini.

You can also take the steps by the Old Castle down to the bottom. There area few restaurants there, but the main ones were Sunset and Katina. They are largely the same though sunset has a slightly better sunset. I went to Katina (on the recommendation of my hotel) and cannot give them my recommendation. The food is insanely overpriced, we're talking like over $100 for fish. I'm sorry but that is completely unreasonable. To make things worse not only is the food overpriced but extremely mediocre; there's nothing special about the food from appetizers, main courses, and dessert. Case in point the baklava we had for dessert was soggy and so sugary it burned your throat going down. To an ignorant tourist it would seem fine, but we had done our homework and so we knew it was crap being passed off to people that didn't know any better. I looked at the Sunset menu afterwards and the prices and items on the menu were basically identical; though I didn't eat there I suspect it to be the same as Katina quality-wise.

Walk down (and back up when you're done) these steps to get to the bottom. There are two restaurants and a small "beach" there. Beware the donkeys and what they leave behind on the way down.

The restaurants at the bottom of the steps.

Oia at the top, restaurants at the bottom.

Sunset from Katina.

The blue domes of Oia, classic blue and white.

Nearly all of Oia is a tourist trap and while that can work your nerves a bit the stunning backdrop will leave you with pictures and memories for a lifetime. Oia can easily be seen in a day. Get there early to avoid the blistering afternoon sun. Explore, get lost amongst white-washed steps and take pictures galore. Eat off the main walk way if you want to save a little and rest the afternoon away in a cafe. Before dusk work your way to the Old Castle for a spot for the sunset and see what all the fuss is about. Don't forget to eat some of those famous Santorini Tomatoes and Eggplant while you're at it.

Santorini

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Santorini, a Greek island made from the remains of a still active volcano, cliff side white washed towns, a gorgeous caldera view, stunning blue waters, black sand beaches and lovable donkeys... that is what I think one conjures up when one thinks of Santorini. And so to Santorini I went...

A view of Oia, Santorini.

Trip Idea: Underwater Ruins of Yonaguni

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 04:32:00 +0000

This is a future trip idea. There are some mysterious underwater ruins off an Island of Japan, 68 miles east of Taiwan. They were discovered by accident as a scuba diver ditched his group and wandered off. These ruins are about 8000 years old. Some think it is the lost continent of Mu whiles others think it the result of geological forces. Either way it looks amazing and one day I want to dive it.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonaguni
http://wikitravel.org/en/Yonaguni
http://www.hottnez.com/the-mysterious-underwater-ruins-of-the-lost-world-in-yonaguni/

Athens Food

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:43:00 +0000

Crappy first meal. My first two choices were sold out. I had to settle for this meat and fries.

This was really good, lamb and tomatoes.

Chocolate eclair

Fetta cheese thing

Cheap gyro

Dining at this restaurant required me to sit right next to the road. The cars would drive right next to me, within 1 foot of my body.

Some tomato and beef dish. It was really good. I was eating with the Americans from Phili I met. I was kind of already full so I shared it with them. Those animals devoured it quick.

I met some cool Americans from Phili, Min and Hoa. They turned me on to Fanta since it was one of their things when they travel. They told me about a Pho Burrito in NYC. I really wanted to try it but I knew I wouldn't have enough time during my layover on the way home to leave JFK (airport in NYC) to explore. I did meet another American on the plane ride back that was going to NYC for a bit. I told her about the Pho Burrito but she was not able to find it. I did a search myself and couldn't find anything about it. However there was a Bolsa Burrito from a truck in So. Cal that had a mix of Mexican and Vietnamese food. The place was called Dos Chinos.

Last Day in Athens

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:29:00 +0000

The next day I went to the Acropolis Museum and it was thankfully open.

The museum was built on top of an archeological site.

The Acropolis again

The Church of Metamorphosis

Monastiraki Area

Athens Flea Market

Rip off purses

I saw a Greek man just throw trash into this archeological site which Monastiraki was built on top of.

Eh?

Elections were going on so that might be why almost everything was closed. Luckily for me the Museum was open for a half day and I got there in the morning.

Temple of Zeus and Panathenaic Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:17:00 +0000

The Temple of Zeus was started in the 6th century BC and completed in 131 AD.

Hadrians Arch

Temple of Zeus

The Panathenaic Stadium was the original modern olympic stadium, built in 566 Bc, renovated in 329 BC where it was rebuilt in marble and 1869. It hosted the first modern olympics in 1896. It's just a tourist attraction these days.

Another view of the Acropolis.

A beggar kid.

Ancient Agora

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:05:00 +0000

Ancient Agora was the market place of early Athens. It was the major center of civic and social life back then.

Church of the Holy Apostles built in 1000 AD

Ancient Agora

Middle Stoa

No standing on the ancient ruins!

Temple of Hephaistos built from 640-415 BC.

Temple of Hephaistos

View of the Acropolis from Ancient Agora.

Temple of Hephaistos

Look, centaurs!

View of Ancient Agora and the Acropolis.

Roman Agora

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:02:00 +0000

Next it was off to the Roman Agora, built in 1st century BC.

Look at this... running water.

South Slope of Acropolis

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:51:00 +0000

On the south slope of the Acropolis you can see the Theater of Dionysos.

Theater of Dionysos

Why do the seats have little holes in them? I don't know.

A tiny church.

Precinct Wall of the Sanctuary of Dionysos.

Street of Tripods

6pm, time for the Acropolis Museum! Yay! Wait.... they were closed! What the hell?

The hours clearly say open from 8AM-8PM but it was closed at 6 PM. What the hell? The Greeks just felt like closing I guess.

Acropolis

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:20:00 +0000

No trip to Athens is complete without visiting the Acropolis. It is arguably the most important ancient monument in western history.

My ticket, it includes tickets to other archeological site.

Acropolis visitor route

Acropolis Rules

Enter through the Beule Gate, a Roman Arch added in the 3rd century AD.

The Temple of Hephaistos from my view in the Arcopolis.

There are stray dogs running around in Athens, including the Acropolis.

Perfect pillars. The ancient Greeks knew that to build pillars that looked straight to the human eye the columns had to be narrower towards the top and their bases curve upward at the ends.

The Parthenon, built in 438 BC. Amazing.

The Erechtheion and the Caryatids, the six maidens. The maidens here are not the originals, they are copies. The originals are in the Acropolis Museum.

The Erechtheion

Parthenon from behind

The Temple of Zeus from my view at the Acropolis.

A cannon and cannon balls in the Acropolis? My guess is that it's left from when the Turks ruled Athens as part of the Ottoman Empire. The Turks took control of Athens in 1456 and the Parthenon became a Mosque. In 1683 Poland, the Vatican and Venice allied to take back European lands controlled by the Ottoman Empire. During this conflict the Parthenon was hit directly with a cannon ball in 1687.

Ancient Agora from my view at the Acropolis.

First day in Athens

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:04:00 +0000

I was really excited to see Athens, though I really didn't do very much research before hand. I was warned way back in Amsterdam that I would be dissapointed. "Those people have built over their treasures, there is nothing left to see!" I was told by a Dutchman. This warning was one of the reasons I decided to change my plan up a bit by going to Prague. I'm quite glad I did because in my opinion the Dutchman was right about about Athens. There's some amazing archeological sites to see, namely the Acropilis, but you really can see the major sites in two days. I have to say I found the rest of Athens pretty dissapointing, though you should note that I did not go out to other Greek Islands. I was told I missed out, and I probably did, but that's one of the sacrifies I had to make by going to Prague instead of staying in Greece longer. I suppose there's always next time but I'm really in no rush to go back to Greece.

Pretty much the instant I got off the train in Athens I was targeted by scammers. My first encounter was with an old man that was just a bit too friendly. I was walking around looking for my hostel. He approached me, very friendly, with a smile and asked where I was from. "Oh America! My son, he is in America, studying in Texas. OKay but where is your father from?" Again, I am not accepted as an American beacuse I am not white. Annoying. This stupid conversation went on for a bit more, all the while I was watching his hands and staying very aware of my pockets. Eventually he did point me in the right direction of where I should go based on my map and invited me out to get drinks with him later. I said okay to get him off my back and headed off to find my place of rest. While walking away I encountered yet another friendly old man that wanted to know where I was wrong and heading off to. This time I just ignored hte guy and kept walking.

When I arrived and checked in I asked the guy working at the counter what my encounter was all about; it did seem really fishy afterall. "Ah, initiated already" he said. Curiously, I looked at him waiting for his explanation. He continued, "What they do is invite you into a bar that belongs to a friend of theirs. You get a couple drinks and then they hit you with a tab of like 500 Euros. Then the doors close and two big guys come out that are happy to take you to the ATM and get your money."

It was a weird feeling. I was happy that I had suspected the worst from this guy and not fallen prey to him. Well, I wasn't really planning on getting drinks with him anyway; not that I'm opposed to hanging out with old dudes, but my instincts were not to. I also thought, these greek scamsters are kind of dumb, they should use hot women to lure guys into their bars, not old men. On the other hand, I apparently look like a big easy target and this was just the beginning.

Evening was approaching so I knew I wouldn't be able to see much. I asked the guy at the front desk for some recomendations of what I could see still. He recommended heading to the Acropolis, near it is a large rock you can climb on with a great view. I decided to take his advice.

On the way to the Acropilis I ran into the old Greek guy again. "My Friend..." I ignored him and kept walking. "Why you act like you don't know me!??!" Whatever, I just left him there. Go and get a real job, your country is broke because people like you don't want to do real work. Lazy Greeks!

Here are pictures from the rock. The view was really amazing. I also go to over hear a young couple that apparently met in Athens. "Come on, we're here only once. You're here only once, I'm here only once." They continued to talk, but basically it was totally obvious the guy was trying to bang the girl. He continued by talking about how he met other travelers before and how they invited him to their wedding basically trying to affirm what a great guy he is. I don't know if this shit works, but the girl wasn't quite ready to bite yet.... yet being the key word. I eventually left them to continue taking my terrible pictures.

The rock where you can get a great view of the Acropolis.

The Acropolis

Afterwards I just wandered around eventually ending up by the Library of Hadrian (no pictures). It was a pain in the butt finding my way back that night, but I made it.

Rome Food

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:04:00 +0000

I was on the run my whole time in Rome, I was blitzing all the sites, so I really didn't have time to sit down and enjoy a really nice meal. I also wasn't really dressed for it as I only had my travel clothes with me and it seemed like everyone in Rome dressed up a little bit. As it turns out I ended my trip way under my budget, waaaaaaaaay under budget. I really should have had nicer food but... I guess that will have to wait for next time. At least I had gelato and pizza (this is for tourists) like every day.

I didn't end up getting pictures of all my food... which is too bad as most of these are crappy foods except the gelato.

My first gelato.. i didn't know you could get additional flavors so I paid for 3 flavors and got 1: strawberry.

Old Bridge, a famous gelataria near the Vatican.

Old Bridge

Old Bridge again.... yes I went back.

Frigidarium.... not famous but yummy.

Gelato from San Crispino, considered the best gelato in Rome. They do not have cones because they believe cones are not sanitary. Flavors are: zabaione, pistachio and honey.

I went back for seconds like right after I finished the first... lemon sorbet and grape.

Pasta from Dino and Tony

Dino and Tony

Dino and Tony - Antipasta

Some cheap pizza I ate while running around Rome.

Some balsamic vinegar I got

pizzeria da baffeto

McDonalds, tried this cuz it's not sold state side.

A sandwich I got while waiting for the bus to leave the catacombs.

Quick breakfast

McDonalds again, tried it cuz this is not sold state side.

pizza near the train station...

A few random pictures of Rome

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:13:00 +0000

Here's a few random pictures I took.

Castel Sant Angelo.

Campo de Fiori at the end of the open air market. Executions used to happen here during Roman times.

That nun walking off was checking out lingerie, hilarious.

This is the lingerie the nun was checking out. What does a nun need lingerie for? Underwear sure, but sexy underwear? That seems wrong.

Piazza del Quirinale

Shopping carts in Rome. They had the ones we are accustom to as well.

There are cameras everywhere on the streets of Rome.

Fontana di Trevi. Throw a coin over your shoulder and you're supposed to return to Rome sometime.

boxers for tourists

This older lady here was beeped twice by Italian drivers. It's customary for Italian men to beep at women they find attractive. Italian men are very aggressive. I suppose Italian women are used to it because this lady seemed to not even notice it. Tourist women on the other hand seem to find this annoying. The Korean architect student I met was so afraid of Italian men she stopped going out at night. An Italian man had asked to kiss her and she refused; she was now scared. I felt bad for her and we went out for dinner later, but before that she had just been staying inside every night. To avoid this women should wear dark sunglasses and use headphones to pretend to not hear anything. You don't have to turn on any music, just give the appearance of not listening.

Fora Traiano

S Maria di Loreto - Colonna Traiana - SS Nome di Maria

I Fori Traiano

Caesar

S Maria di Loreto - Colonna Traiana - SS Nome di Maria

Coliseum and Palatino

Via S. Pietro in Carcere

The Roman Forum

The Coliseum

Sometimes rome can be a dump

See... a dump

Santa Maria Maggiore

No sitting on the steps!

So much for no sitting on the steps.

Vatican

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 02:50:00 +0000

The next day, November 3rd,I decided to go to the Vatican, the world's smallest state - no larger than a few acers. It was a Wednesday and I was told the Pope addresses the crowds every Wednesday, a tradition called the Papal Audience. Unfortunately I think I got there too late and the audience was over.

To avoid ridiculously long lines into the Vatican Museum buy your tickets online here: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/index.html

I got lucky. For whatever reason when I went there was no line at all. I was able to just walk right through in no time. There's a security screening, and then I bought my ticket with my student ID, the audio guide since I know nothing about art and I was off. The Vatican Museum is one of the great museums of the world. It boasts and impressive art collection and some archeological artifacts from Ancient Egypt. It's amazing how old some of these items are. Of course the main attraction is the Sistine Chapel with the paintings of Michaelangelo on the ceiling. It's the last stop in the museum but I found out later that a lot of people race to the chapel first, then tour the museum and revisit the chapel again at the end. I spent a lot of time just sitting and staring at the art on the ceiling. I was mostly listening to the audio guide as I don't know anything. I was surprised to find that Michaelangelo wasn't just an artist (he was more a sculptor than a painter) but also a theologian. His art work in the chapel reflects his deep understanding of the Bible and how to get the Bible stories across in his paintings. Is this true? I don't know for sure but the audio guide did say that. Then again, the guide is from the Catholic Church and I would assume that would want this to be case true or not. Still I am inclined to believe it is true.

Map of the Vatican.

St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Basilica - the chairs outside are for the Papal Audience which I missed.

Silly looking guards.

Dress code to enter St. Peter's Basilica

More silly guards.

Audio guide Map of St. Peter's Basilica

Silly looking guards

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

A list of all the Popes.

A beggar on the way to the Vatican Musuem.

Vatican Museum

The Vatican Museum. I was lucky, there was no line when I go there. I just walked right through.

My museum ticket.

Audio map of the Vatican Museum.

Woman from Thebes 960-945 BC

Antinous Osiris 130-138 BC

The god Anubis - Roman Imperial Period 1-2 AD

Head of a statue of Mentuhotep II - 2010-1998 BC

Baboon was sacred to god Thot 1300-1250 BC

Queen Arsinoes II 285-246 BC

Female clay statuette from Southern Anatolia. This is Neolithic pottery from 5600 BC. This lady statue is pretty hot huh?

A breastfeeding statue? okay....

Silenus with the child Dionysus - this is a Roman copy from the 2nd century

Look at this statue of a lady

This is a close up of her foot. Look at the detail and how exact it is. I find this level of attention to detail so amazing. No, I don't have a foot fetish.

Emperor Titus

Vatican Museum Courtyard

The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. No pictures are allowed of the Sistine Chapel so I took picture of these instead.

The Last Judgement. No pictures are allowed of the Sistine Chapel so I took picture of these instead.

The Sistine Chapel. No pictures are allowed of the Sistine Chapel so I took picture of these instead.

In the Room of Signature; contains Rafael's most famous frescos:

Look, it's the star of david

Drinking water from this fountain gave me the runs.

The vatican has its own post office. It's pretty small but here it is.

Day 2: Pantheon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 11:45:00 +0000

The Pantheon was built in 126 AD and is still a functioning church. I think it is so amazing that something built so long ago is still in total functional use today. In addition the Pantheon had the largest dome in the world until the completion of Brunelleschi's dome at the Florence Cathedral in 1436. It is still the largest unenforced dome in the world though. I just find that so remarkable.

I met this nice Korean architect student while I was in Rome. Her English wasn't very good and my Korean is limited to only a few words, but that was enough for her to strike up a short friendship. She had come to Rome to see first hand some the architecture she studied in school but had become very homesick. Truth be told, I believe she was not enjoying Europe at all which might be why just saying hello in Korean worked. Anyway she told me her professor recommended that she spend a whole day at the Pantheon studying and admiring it. I think that gives you an idea of just how well respected this building is.

The Pantheon

The dome of the Pantheon.

The Pantheon is still an activc church.

The tomb of the famous renaissance artist Raphael along with some Japanese tourists doing some weird pose.

I also stopped by Piazza d Pietra on my way back.

This ended my second day in Rome. As you can see starting from my first Day 2 entry, it was one hell of day which involved a ton of walking. My feet were killing me, but unlike in Asia, I could not find a cheap foot massage... or even just foot massages in Europe.

Rome Day 2 - Catacombs of San Calisto

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 08:37:00 +0000

Finally I was now off to the Catacombs of San Calistco. These are the largest and most famous catacombs in Rome. There's a few other catacombs but I did not have time to see them all since I was blitzing as much as I could.

Unfortunately pictures are not allowed in the catacombs so I don't have much to show here. They are however very amazing. You can only see them via a tour. Buy your ticket and wait for your alloted time. A Catholic priest will then guide you underground and give you the tour. The priest that gave me my tour was from the Philippines. He moved us along faster than I would have liked but that is because the air inside is contaminated with the dust underground and not good for you. For tourists it is not a big deal but for people that go in there often it can accumulate overtime and have adverse health affects.

The catacombs were built in 150 AD because Christians were not allowed to bury their dead in the city during this period of the Roman Empire. This catacomb had the remains of the original four Popes, some amazingly old frescos, and the mummified remains of a few people. When Rome was sacked the barbarians raided the catacombs taking whatever valuables that had been buried with the dead. During these raids the remains of the dead were scattered all over so it has become nearly impossible to figure out which bones belong to which tomb. I specifically asked about the remains of the four Popes. During the tour I was told their bones had been moved to the Vatican. I asked if they were able to figure out which bones belonged to which Priest. I didn't get an answer. The Priest either didn't understand my question or didn't really want to answer it giving me some lame answer which I no longer remember.

The Priest asked the group if we all thought Christians hid in the catacombs to hide from persecution. Nearly everyone said yes. I was the first person to say no; I believe one other guy said no. The Priest said that even he believed Christians hid in the catacombs before he came to Rome. The answer is No; Christians did not hide in the catacombs to escape persecution. The reason why is because the air in the catacombs was not good enough to allow people to stay there for extended periods of time. He also asked if Christians held worship in the catacombs. He specifically asked me since I had been asking so many history questions and probably because I said "no" to the question about hiding in the Catacombs. I said yes, I believe early Christians did worship in the catacombs. He said I was correct and said I was very good at history. Ha. I don't know about that, I'm just an engineer, but it did make me smile (at least inside). In the present day Christians will sometimes still come down to the catacombs to worship. It's not just Catholics that come even though the catacombs are owned by the Cathloic Church. Protestants are allowed to come and hold prayer there as well. The appeal is to try and get the feeling of the first Christians.

Like I wrote earlier I don't have any pictures really, so here's what I got:

Cecilia Metella

Some ruins on my way to the Catacombs of San Callisto

My ticket to the Catacombs of San Callisto

Since I couldn't take any pictures inside the catacombs I'm just going to post pictures of this pamphlet

Alright this wasn't part of the catacombs but it's a statue of a a naket dude.

Rome Day 2 - Appia Antica

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:18:00 +0000

Next it was off to see the Catacombs and the Appian Way. The Appian Way was one of Rome's earliest and most important roads with the original part built in 312 BC. It connected Rome to the southern part of what is now Italy. However after the fall of the Western Roman Empire the road fell out of use. In 1784 Pope Pius IV ordered the road restored and so the Appia Antica was built parallel to the old road. The pictures here aren't that exciting, oh well.

Ah, off to the Appia Antica!

Whaaaat???? Closed? Damnit! I decided to walk down what I could since the rest of it was closed.

Map of the area.

Appia Antica

Some old ruined structure along the road.

Cars still drive on this very old road.

Appia Antica

Some people enjoying a picnic with food they brought.

I wonder how old that wall is.

Day 2: Piazza della Repubblica.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:54:00 +0000

After the Coliseum I went back to Piazza della Repubblica. I was planning on going to the catacombs next and I needed to get back to Termini Station anyway. Piazza della Repubblica is very close to Termini. Here's a few pictures of the plaza.

Piazza della Repubblica

Basilica

I wish this wasn't blurry.

Rome Day 2 - Coliseum

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:04:00 +0000

After visiting the Roman Forum is was time to head to the Coliseum! I was able to bypass this huge line thanks to my combination ticket from the Palatino.

haha suckers, watch me with envy as i waltz past you all

Everyone knows about the Coliseum. It was where the gladiators fought for the entertainment of the Romans. Sometimes they fought each other, sometimes they fought animals. Contrary to popular belief Christians were not fed to lions. Anyway, on to the pictures! I am too lazy to write anymore.

Why are there no spaces between the words? Around 200 CE the latin practice of words running together without separators became popular; the practice was called scriptio continua. Prior to that they actually used little dots between words as separators. Spaces were not introduced until somewhere between 600-800 CE.

A carving of on the famous gladiators in the stone.

It was not uncommon for spectators to carve the name of their favorite gladiator into the stone in the Coliseum, not unlike today's graphite.

Bones of animals used in the Coliseum.

The Palatino from the Coliseum

Arco di Costantino from the Coliseum

People hawking cheap junk.

Rome Day 2 - Roman Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:44:00 +0000

At the end of the Palatino area is really the jewel of the exhibit, the Roman Forum. I'm feeling lazy so this is all I'm going to write. Here are my pictures.

Arco di Settimio Severo

There was an exhibit with Terra Cotta Warriors from China where the Roman Forum was.

A map showing the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty.

In addition to Roman artifacts some Terra Cotta warriors were on display as well.