IntrepidFromDC

Colosseum from the inside and atop the tallest tower.

I made visited three Roman sites today, the inside of the Colosseum, the Theater and the Cryptoportiques...

I know but it's due for a retro comeback! Actually I've never attended but it just is a fun thing to think about.

I can't speak French. I know about 30 words that are important for tourists and use them like a caveman would use grunts. For example if I need a restroom I shrug and grunt "Toilettes?". Not really. Everywhere I go people speak English. Even the tourists from other countries like Germany and Netherlands. My hit rate on "Do you speak any English?", just roaming around, is about 60% I estimate. And all restaurant and hotel personnel speak fluent English. Same as Italy - language barrier is a non-issue and often winds up a fun conversation starter.

Just 10 days til the 15-day TA cruise starts! I'm so excited to see the branding differentiation. I really have a feeling the "fun" is going to be dialed back a bit. Instead of Hairy Chest Contest it'll be Baci Ball.

I added a pic of the places I ate lunch and dinner here. Look at that paella! And the Van Gogh "Cafe et nuit", really at night this time.

Get pretty dead on Friday night by 10pm. One bar was open and it had a dog!

Just heard my first French siren since Paris.

Dinner was sublime. Although sometimes sneaking birdbread (I made up a word Yay) for Tweet Tweet and Monty Python's flying rats can be tricky. Look at the mysterious missing bread from the breadbasket at the table?

This guy has jazz skills but seemed to lack the jazz soul of the duo in Paris. 20230519_145038.mp4

I bring a carryon and a backpack. I won't need laundry til Carnival and although I read Venezia doesn't have the self laundry they still do the free laundry for plat/dia. I need warm weather at sailaway because all my trousers will be worn a couple times but I have 5 pairs of nice shorts I won't break out until the cruise. Getting around is a breeze because it's just carryon and backpack, made easier by doing a dry run from hotel to train station with the little yellow guy on Google maps and memorizing it. I almost always book a hotel walking distance to train station in Europe because the train stations are always in town.

Do you know if PC gets to keep both Mardi Gras and Venezia?

Rhone River where the Roman ship was found in 2010. 20230519_063018.mp4

The hotel and lunch

Vincent Van Gogh lived in Arles after moving from Paris and painted his most famous paintings here. The yellow cafe he painted is still here (see pics below) but sadly the house he lived in and painted ("yellow house") was destroyed in WWII by the good guys. He also painted "Starry Night" here. Oh, yeah - and this is where he cut off his ear and gave it to a prostitute. Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime, even his brother Theo sold more.

My favorite pics, just walking around...

This guy looks both ways before crossing

dogs AND CATS of Arles

The Colosseum, where they still hold man vs. beast battles to the death today. They also have concerts and I missed Simple Minds.😑Pics of inside the Colosseum later, when I go in.

Last pics of museum. Note the towers in the present day Colosseum are not present in the Roman depiction. That's because the towers were added over 1,000 years later.

More artifacts excavated in Arles...

The ship, I think it's 35 meters long.

How Arles became a wealthy Roman city...

Museum pics never go over as good as being there but here goes, the Roman Ship is original and breathtaking in person.