el djem to new jersey

we left mahdia for the "impressive ruins of the largest colosseum in North Africa, a huge amphitheatre which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, are found in the small village of El Jem. This 3rd-century monument illustrates the grandeur and extent of Imperial Rome."

we drove around looking for the colossem and then saw this in front of us

dianna loved this photo of me coming out of the toilet.
she said it was because the door is so short.
weird

from where we parked

another grandmother picture

the architecture of this place was amazing, and to think they the did everything simply by manpower

it was about a million degrees (we were told it was 48 degrees celsius)
so hot in fact that dianna's metal glasses got hot and were burning her face
so we didn't last all that long
plus i know nothing about this stuff so though it was totally facinating
an hour was plenty of time

View from the upper tiers across the arena looking to the west at which end there were two sloping passages leading down to the basement allowing gladiators and animals to be safely brought into the galleries below the arena. The main gallery is now exposed to view, as are the two lift shafts on either side of the arena. These would originally have been enclosed within a wooden covering.

it felt much better down here

these photos kinda demonstrate the size of this place
it is huge

In this area animals and gladiators would be held in cells on either side of the gallery,
prior to being sent into the arena via one of two lifts.

spooky

super grandmother picture

view from the top of the amphitheater

we left to head to matmata and stopped to have lunch at another roadside place
this one is called new jersey
i am sad that we never got a photo of the sign

about as nerdy as it gets!
there are lots of these stupid photos because i got a tripod
and we used it all the time
uit is hard to be normal when you are using a tripod