Lucy goes around the world in 88 days: Day 71 & 72

Day 71: Saturday 6th September
Today Miss Hannaford and I travelled by high speed train from Venice train station to Rome Terminus called Roma Termini. The trip is 3.5 hours long but because we were travelling first class, we had extra comfy seats, free tea and coffee and a great folding table so Miss Hannaford could keep working on her research.

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The train got up to 249km/h! It was super fast but we still could enjoy the Italian country side.

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So we are now in Rome and we will go sightseeing tomorrow!

Day 72: Sunday 7th September
Today Miss Hannaford and I started our sightseeing around Rome by catching a hop on hop off tourist bus. We started with a complete circuit of Rome going past the Colosseum,
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Then going past Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) it is also more famously known as the Wedding Cake because it is white and many many layers!

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After the wedding cake, the next sight was Castel Sant’Angelo- Castle of the Angel- a really big castle right in the middle of Rome, next to the River Tiber- the main river through Rome.

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The next sight was of St Peter’s Square and the Basilica of St Peter- the largest Christian church in the world and home of the Pope.

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After completing the full circuit on the bus, Miss Hannaford and I decided to stay on the bus until it got to the Colosseum and get off then to explore the Colosseum up close. When you get off the bus the first thing you pass is the Arch of Constantine which was built in 315AD. It is a triumphal arch in that the Roman Army would perform a huge triumph parade though the major streets of Ancient Rome showing the people the spoils of war. The parade would go under all the triumphal arches in Rome to acknowledge past triumphs and if the victory was important enough, the story of the victory would decorate a new triumphal arch.

This arch was perfectly replicated in the 1963 moive Cleopatra. Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt entered Rome in a huge parade showing the Romans the treasures of Egypt and she herself arrived on a huge sphinx that just fitted under the arch.

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After walking past the arch, we joined a tour and went inside the Colosseum! The Colosseum was just like our modern stadiums. In the colosseum people would watch in the morning hunters fighting bears, lions, tigers, rhinoceros from all over the empire. Sometimes the animal would win and kill the hunter, but the goal was to kill these ferocious animals before the crowds. In the afternoon, the Gladiators would fight but not always to the death, sometimes the crowd and the Emperor would spare the life of the loser if he had fought well. In the photos you can see where some of the floor has been rebuit and under the floor were the cages where the animals were kept and the gladiators prepared to fight.

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After our visit to the Colosseum, the next stop was a visit to the Palatine Hill, or Hill of the Palace and the Ancient Roman Forum right next to the Colosseum. The Palatine Hill is where the Emperors of Rome built their palaces. They are now ruins but the Palatine Hill does give an excellent overview of the Roman Forum.

The Forum was where everything happened in Ancient Rome on a daily basis. It was where you did your food and clothing shopping, it was where the goverment met, it was where most of the temples were located, it was where all the dentists and doctors were. It was also where everyone went to take a bath in public so they could get the latest gossip (men and women’s baths were separate). This explains why the forum is so big! Until not long ago- the forum was covered in meters of soil because of the erosion of the surrounding hills. It took 2000 years to cover up the forum until archaeologists started to excavate the forum. In one of the photos, you will see a green door halfway up a wall with no stairs to it. That is how high the soil got when it buried the forum.

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It has been a very interesting first day in Rome!
– Lucy

Lucy goes around the world in 88 days: Day 69 & 70

Day 69: Thursday 4th September
Today Miss Hannaford and I explored more of the back streets of Venice starting from the Train Station near Ferrovia vapparetto stop through the back streets, across the Cannaregio Canal to the Cannaregio district. Miss Hannaford had heard that there was a local puppet maker in the area but after wandering around the streets using the directions we were given, we could not find the workshop but we had a very nice walk.

Day 70: Friday 5th September
Today was our last day in Venice. The first thing we did was to get ready to travel to Rome tomorrow by getting washing done and making sure we had all the right train tickets for the next few train trips. I wanted to go to the top of the Campanile (the orange bell tower and symbol of Venice) and Miss Hannaford wanted to find another puppet shop that she had heard was near Saint Mark’s Square. Instead of catching the Vaporetto, MIss Hannaford and I walked through the back streets and bridges of Venice to St Mark’s Square and we paid €8 to catch the elevator to the top of the Campanile. What an amazing view of all of Venice and the Lagoon! Venice is made up of 180 tiny islands which explains why there are so many bridges and canals but the strange thing is that from the top of the Campanile, you can’t see any of the bridges or canals!

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After we came down from the Campanile, we watched the big clock chime 5pm. It is hard to see in the video Miss Hannaford shot, but the figures on the top of the clock tower actually move to strike the bell.
Here is Miss Hannaford’s video

Here is another video showing the figures moving more clearly.

Miss Hannaford did find the puppet shop but sadly it was closed but she took some nice pictures of the marionette puppets.

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So tomorrow we are off to Rome on the high speed train and in the middle of next week we are traveling to Charleville Meziere in Northern France using the French high speed trains!

– Lucy

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