Roman Colosseum

Hacking this Wonder- As you walk around the wonder, you will be greeted by various third parties, attempting to make an extra 5-10 percent on ticket sales and/ or the tour within.  If you’re Hacking this Wonder, your saving money.  Your best bet is to walk directly up to the window and buy a single ticket about 7 Euros (12 US dollars at the time of this post).  What is an added bonus and worth the price, is the guided personal tour.  It’s actually a phone in a bag, when you walk to a certain area, the phone will give you a brief idea of what took place.
Here is some history before you go.
The Colosseum, (the Flavian Amphitheatre) is one of Rome’s most famous buildings and enduring monuments to the culture of the ancient Romans. Construction was initiated by the Emperor Vespasian around 72 AD. His son Titus reigned over its completion and the official opening ceremonies, about 8 years later, in 80 AD. It was built near the site of Nero’s Domus Aurea “Golden House”. This is significant in that his successor, Vespasian wanted to erase the memory of Nero’s extravagant reign from the minds of Romans. It got its popular name, the Colosseum, because of Nero’s colossus (120 ft. high) statue of himself, which was nearby.
The huge theater was originally built encompassing four floors. The first three had arched entrances, while the fourth floor utilized rectangular doorways. The floors each measured between 10,5-13,9 meters (32-42 feet) in height. The total height of the construction was approximately 48 meters (144 feet). The arena measured 79 x 45 meters (237-135 feet), and consisted of wood and sand. (The word “arena” is derived from the Latin arena, which means “sand.”) Nets along the sides protected the audience.
The Colosseum had a total spectator capacity of 45,000-55,000. The Amphitheater is built of travertine outside, and of tufa and brick in the interior. The main pedestals were built of marble blocks weighing 5 metric tons (11,000 pounds.) Initially the huge marble blocks were held together by metal-pins. However, the pins were soon carried off by thieves, and had to be replaced by mortar. The total amount of marble needed for the construction measured approximately 100,000 cubic meters. It was carried by 200 ox-pulled carts, which supplied a sufficient flow of needed materials.
There were no less than 76 numbered entrances and 4 additional entrances reserved for the Emperor, other VIP’s and the gladiators. The Colosseum was designed for easy crowd dispersal; the entire audience could exit the building in five minutes. The interior was divided into three parts: the arena, the podium, and the cavea. Now more than two-thirds of the original building has been removed and the rows of the seats in the cavea are missing. It is very similar to other amphitheaters except this one is much bigger.
The audience, upon entering, climbed sloping ramps to their seats, according to gender and social class. Obviously, the higher one’s social status, the better their seating arrangement would be. For example, women (excepting spouses and perhaps imperial family) and the poor, stood or sat on wooden benches in the fourth tier. For inclement or very hot weather conditions, an enormous, colored awning (velarium) could be stretched overhead to protect the crowd.
A wooden floor covered subterranean chambers where the gladiators and animals were kept waiting to perform. There is some debate over the idea that the Colosseum was occasionally flooded for mock naval battles. There were canals in place that could have been used for this purpose but the brick used in construction was not the same type of material that they normally used in water resistant materials.
The Colosseum was the Empire’s primary stage for gladiatorial combat for nearly 4 centuries. In a show of Rome’s wealth and extravagance, during the opening ceremonies in 80 AD, 100 days of the games were held.

“Did you hear him speak?”

I couldn’t help but ask, “WHHHHAAATTTT?” 

I wouldn’t have been surprised if the statue spoke to me, its that remarkable.

This is the third stop on the Seven Wonders Tour . For me , it was well worth the hike up. I happen to visit the statue on the Sunday after Halloween which happens to be a holiday in which the locals remember deceased. Your journey begin as you drive up a mountain passing through the fa villa or what is otherwise known as distress housing.
I cant help but make a point on how beautiful the horizon looks in Rio with water , mountains, and house built on the edges similar to something you would see in Italy. Makes me wonder why we really consider the fa villa as distressed housing, they have the best view of all.
Once at the top you can park and walk. Small admission fee and that’s it. Quite the view.
How to hack this wonder-
Not much to hack except if driving, park before you reach the top of the mountain. On the walk back you may get a couple of surprises like the one we encountered below.

September 1, 2009. 2:30pm Eastern Standard Time, Machu Picchu

“Aaron, slowly step backwards and move closer to the edge of the gravel!”

Those were the words of Frabiscio, one of the youngest yet most talented tour guides Machu Picchu has to offer. He didn’t know that I was coming off of a 21 hour travel experience with only a couple of hours of sleep.

“Keep your eyes focused on the gravel in front of you; block out all of the human sounds you hear, and feel the air behind you.”

I ignored the multiple conversations that were going on behind me, and I began to focus in on the senses of nature. The cold wind nearly pushed me forward.

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Chichen ( The Mouth of the Well) Itza ( A Group of particular Mayans)

Due to new regulation, video cameras and climbing the pyramid are not allowed. Needless to say, this IS Adventure Aaron.  Although the live streaming was not allowed, we managed to grab this footage.

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