Beginnings
- a) The wait for admission to the Colosseum was approximately three and a half hours. The queue was so long that I initially mistook it for the line leading into the Palatine Hill, _ _ _ _ _
- b) It was pouring rain and bitter cold in the middle of May, _ _ _ _ _
- c) That was when it struck me: in about as much time as it would take to wait in that queue, _ _ _ _ _
- d) Tunisia has suffered a crisis of reputation over the past decade _ _ _ _ _
- e) What had once been a regular haunt for holidaymakers and European artists and intellectuals _ _ _ _ _
Endings
-
I could ride the metro to Rome’s airport, hop an 80-minute flight to Tunis and catch a cab 15km to Carthage, where, for a mere 12 Tunisian dinars (£3.30) I could be blissfully alone with equally impressive relics of Roman engineering and architecture. -
suddenly seemed fierce and untouchable. -
those that did venture here often did so in the insulated safety of all-inclusive package tours, -
which kept them in the close confines of seaside sanctuaries like the Mövenpick resort and spa in Sousse. -
as I couldn’t even see the thing when I joined the end of it. -
after the revolution that ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 threw the country into turmoil and began the broader Arab Spring. -
yet scores of soggy tourists were huddled alongside me in technicolour rain ponchos waiting for the chance to pay €12 (around £10) to be herded into the great arena like wild animals before a gladiatorial hunt.
