ROME AND THEN HOME:)

When he left the Middle East (Israel and Egypt) Flat Hawkster made his way to the fascinating city of Rome, Italy.   He had been looking forward to visiting this city for a long time after studying Ancient Rome in grade 7.  It was a great history tour.   Rome is the capital of Italy and was the centre of the Roman Empire that ruled most of Western Europe for over 700 years.  Ancient Rome first began over 2500 years ago and would develop into a very sophisticated society that introduced many ideas that we still use today: roads, mail service, taxation, stadiums, government, architecture, court systems, military innovation and so much more,   Flat Hawkster spent a lot of time wandering through this city of 2.9 million people and found ancient ruins on display everywhere.   His first stop was the ancient Colosseum.  This is a huge stadium that is similar in size to B.C. place and was designed to hold 50,000 spectators that looked down onto the large stage/floor..  People would gather to watch a variety of presentations but most involved fights to the death with men, animals or men vs. animals.  It was a very violent place for participants and much safer to be in the crowd.  Flat Hawkster was amazed to find out that the floor had close to 80 trap doors that would be used to surprise the crowd with famous gladiators, exotic animals or elaborate stag props.  Imagine yourself standing on that floor in front of  50,000 angry people who were hungry for violence.  Suddenly, the crowd lets out a thunderous roar. You turn around to see that a rhinoceros has been lifted up on to the stage and is charging right at you.  There is no where to run or hide.  Yikes!

In these two pictures you can get a sense of the Colosseum's size.  It is huge!

In this picture Flat Hawkster is pointing to the maze of pathways and holding areas that could be
found under the stage.  This is where the animals and gladiators would be held until
they were lifted up through the trap doors.

Not far from the Colosseum,  Flat Hawkster was able to wander through what was the ancient city of Rome.  Most of these ruins have crumbled now but a few buildings remain.  What visitors can see is how well planned the city was with roads connecting people to the temples, government buildings, theatres, stadiums, etc.   To view what this might have looked like in 320 AD check out this cool video link: Ancient Rome in 3D Animation.

Flat Hawkster can be seen below in the Vatican City.  This "city" or state is the home for the Catholic Church and it is where the Pope lives.  It is an independent state with its own laws and only 800 inhabitants.  This number is much larger however where you consider that approximately 25,000 tourists visit the Vatican each day!  One of the biggest attractions is the Sistine Chapel which features the amazing work of Michelangelo on its ceiling.  Michelangelo was a very famous artist during the Renaissance period and the Pope at the time told him to work on this project.  Michelangelo was not very fond of painting but he had no choice but to follow the wishes of his Pope.  The ceiling was completed after 4 very uncomfortable years where the artist's health suffered and his eyesight was ruined due to the constantly dripping paint.

The Sistine Chapel.  In the wall at the end of the chapel, Michelangelo included a picture
of himself as a very unhappy man,  He wanted people to know that he was not pleased to
have been forced to do all of this painting.

This is St. Peter's square in the Vatican City.  In the picture below you and see the
dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Well Hawthorne Hawks,  this is the final post.  After over four months of travelling Flat Hawkster is now spending some time with relatives before heading back to Hawthorne for a visit in December.  He is excited about seeing everyone again.  As well he is looking forward to meeting all of those people who joined Hawthorne in the fall.  Thanks for following along and a special "shout out" to Mrs. Ratzlaff for her extra work in support of this blog.  Have a great November everyone!

ISRAEL AND EGYPT

Flat Hawkster's tour through the Middle East continued through Israel and Egypt.  He began by visiting two cities in Israel,  Haifa and Jerusalem.   It was a fascinating journey into what is considered the Holy Land for those of the Christian faith.   Flat Hawkster's time began in the coastal town of Acre where he was able to wander through tunnels and secret passages that had been built by the crusaders centuries ago.  The crusaders were sent by the Catholic Church to recapture Christianity's Holy Land from the Ottoman Empire.   The Ottomans did end up conquering the city again and built a city on top of the city that had been created by the crusaders.  One of the secret passages was very tight and narrow but provided a quick escape route from the castle to the ocean.

For his second day in Israel, Flat Hawkster went to the Jerusalem to visit some of the most important sites in the history of Christianity.   This is the city in which Jesus Christ is said to have lived and died.  Millions of Christians from around the world make pilgrimages (trips) to Jerusalem in honour of their religion.  It was so busy when Flat Hawkster was there he was wondering if they had all arrived at the same time:)

The view of Jerusalem from a park nearby.

This is said to be the lane on which Jesus Christ walked on the day of his execution.

The view of Haifa Bay from the hanging garden above the city.

The Ottoman fortress  that was built on top of the city that had been constructed centuries earlier by the Crusaders.

These are the remains of an ancient public washroom that had been built by the crusaders.   It consisted of a series of holes in the ground that connected with a primitive sewer system that washed the waste into the harbour.   This was definitely a "public"  washroom.  In the picture below you can see Flat Hawkster about to enter one of the escape tunnels that had been used centuries ago.

After leaving Israel,  Flat Hawkster went to Egypt to visit the pyramids.   He had been looking forward to this visit for a long time as he is fascinated by these huge structures that had been built over 5000 years ago.  The site in Giza was very busy with locals, tourists, buses, camels, donkeys and horses.  Despite the crowds, it was an amazing experience.   The pyramids are an ancient wonder and it would be difficult for modern day machinery to construct these today.  The pyramids were built as tombs for Egyptian Pharaohs (kings) and they were started while the men were alive.  Sometimes the pyramid would take 20 years to build but the work would always stop when the Pharaoh died.   These structures were built to provide the leaders with access to the best afterlife.

This is  the Sphinx which is a huge monument that has the body of a lion and it is believed to be the head of a Pharaoh named Khafra.   You will notice that the nose is missing and some historians think it was knocked of by the worker slaves after Khafra's death.  Apparently he was not a nice leader and ancient Egyptians believe that ones spirit would travel through the note.  By removing this monument's nose,  the workers would be leaving Khafra's spirit a prisoner in the tomb.

The Pyramids of Giza.  The tallest (left) was built for the Pharaoh Cheops and stands over 45O ft tall.  In the picture below you can see Flat Hawkster in search of water in the Sahara desert.

This is a picture of Flat Hawkster as he rides on top of a very friendly camel.  It was actually quite a comfortable ride but started out scary.   In order for people (Hawsters) to mount a camel you have to get on when it is lying down on its haunches.  When Flat Hawkster was finally on the camel's back the animal then lifted itself up.  At this point,  Flat Hawkster had to hang tight as he thought that he night fall forward.

This is a "step" pyramid built for King Zoser.  Experts are not entirely sure as to why they used a "step" design but one theory suggests that it allowed the King's spirit to walk up into the afterlife.