Europe 2025 Part II

Apologies for the multiple emails.  I think I have it sorted now.  Ain't it amazing how you forget how to use something as simple as sending out an email with a link when you don't do it for a while.

You may remember our acronym for touring in the UK.  ABC - another blood church, another bloody cathedral, another bloody castle.  We have amended it to reflect travels in Italy and Spain . . . ABCM.  Definitely not ICBM which is what my head keeps saying, but ABCM.  Another bloody church, another bloody cathedral, another bloody castle, another bloody convent, another bloody coliseum and last but not least, another bloody Madonna.  Individually they are enlightening, informative, beautiful and often awe inspiring.  Collectively, I never really recognized that we, as human beings,  were so intent on recreating the same structures, institutions and art.  Of course, it's not just the number of Madonna(s). Spain and Italy are replete with temples dedicated to various Greek and Roman gods not to mention Jewish synagogues/temples, and Moslem/Muslim mosques, palaces and forts.  

More of a history lesson than you may wish but as an excuse to include some pretty amazing pictures our next stop in exploring coliseums and temples was in Siracusa (Syrcuse) with a visit to the Neopolis Archeological Park.  This complex is home to the Teatro Greco, originally constructed, or more accurately excavated by the Greeks in the 5th century BCE.  It was subsequently rebuilt/remodeled by the Romans somewhere in the 3rd century CE.  

The Latomia de Paradiso, in the same archeological park, is a limestone quarry which was the source of the building material for the emerging Greek (I think) city of Syracuse.  It is now a lovely area shaded by magnolia and citrus trees with pleasant walks and art installations.  However it's history is a little darker as it was used to house some 7,000 prisoners of a war between Syracuse and Athens.

In the spirit of ABCM another coliseum, if you will is within this site.  It is the Anfiteatro Romano, originally constructed to to host gladiator battles and horse racing.  The center of the amphitheater was a flat, elliptical area covered in sand, remember arena=sand.  There were steps, covered with marble slabs and divided into tiers so the spectators of different social standing did not have to mix. You can still see what was an underground corridor that had eight entrances to the main arena.  This is how the gladiators, wild animals and assorted other entertainments entered the arena.