Bring on the Roman Ruins
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2010
1
6
11
Trip End
Aug 08, 2010
Newport, Wales, United Kingdom
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Admission was free as it would be for the museum, amphitheater, and barracks as well. The first thing you see when you walk in is a pool…well sort of. It was the ruins along with some modern day projectors creating "light waves" and animated characters swimming, and splashing. This exhibit was in doors and had a boardwalk around two different sections. Along the board walks are of course information posters describing what use to happen there, and point out little details one likely won’t catch just walking through. Some of those details included intentional and unintentional markings – such as the dog and cat paws, the sandal imprint, and even the marking LEG II AVG, seal of the Second Augustan Legion. Moving along we saw models of what the area used to look like, armor the Roman soldiers use to wear, and even a sponge on a stick that was once used to wipe ones bum after using the toilet. Oh no worries, they simply dunked it in vinegar when finished to kill off the germs.
The second section include more audio to explain what life was like at these times. Over here they had their frigidarium. The frigidarium is where the men would go after working out right before jumping in the warmer pools. They would also return for one final cold wash before jumping out. Another sign explained how they knew that the bath was used by families as well as soldiers and royalties. The evidence was found in the drainage of the pool. Many of the baths guests would lose some of their valuables, and they would get swept down the pipes. When excavated, gems of all sorts, rings, children’s teeth, hairpins, game counters, dice, animal bones, and broken pottery and jars were found within these pipes. They later showed some of these gems in the museum that we were visiting next.
A block or two down the road was the museum. Inside they had different manikins dressed in military armor, they had vases, coins, and recovered jewelry, armor, and gems (likely the ones mentioned in the Roman Bath). In the U.K., school was still in session. We saw one group of kids entering the Roman Bath as we were leaving, and another had arrived at the museum around the same time we had. After the museum, we moved onto the Amphitheater.
The Amphitheater was where we were going to have lunch, so we headed back to the car and drove over. There were several groups of kids on this end as well, but the little ones stayed near the play ground for the most part. The older ones had the same idea as us and had lunch in the amphitheater. There was one little kid though. He had crawled into one of the pits (likely the bathrooms long ago) and was afraid to crawl back out. Lucky for the mom, he wasn’t trapped. She was able to lift him out if necessary as it was only a pit – then again, maybe she made him crawl back out. I wasn’t around long enough to see. I saw this as we were walking along the outer edge of the Amphitheater. We made our way to the third mound on the right before climbing up and sitting down. We had ham and turkey sandwiches, hula hoops (potato rings), and then had chocolate for dessert. I had a choice of three different flavors of J2O juice to choose from – I had the Apple Melon. At one point while we were eating we also noticed some red ants. Ugh, I thought I had left those behind in Florida! Fortunately, I didn’t have the experience of finding out if they were the same kind.
We finished up lunch and took a walk around the amphitheater. I believe they said it seated around 2,000 people. Now this was of course when everything was built up, and there were actual seats as opposed to just rock and dirt, but it’s still impressive. The size of it is actually quite deceiving. They even continue to have performances there every now and then.
Finishing up our walk around the Amphitheater, we made our way across the street towards the Barracks. The path over led us between the playground on the right, and rugby fields to our left. Only some of the ruins were left behind as they use to house thousands of soldiers at once. The rooms were not large at all. Then again, I’m sure they were used only for sleeping in. This marked the end of the Roman Ruins. Our next destination was Castle Coch near Cardiff.
[End of Day 4, Part I]
