Ancient Rome, Part II, The Colosseum

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We had just left the Roman Forum and the wind was kicking up.  Dust was blowing everywhere and the sky was quite dark!  We made it inside the Colosseum just in time! The rain started just as we got undercover! Once again we were thankful to be there with a guided tour where we had previously arranged tickets. The line looked long and it was now raining! We walked right in!

We started our tour at the arena level. Juvita told us about the Colosseum and its history. Walking out onto that platform was just phenomenal! You can just imagine the crowds and the battles! We had time for pictures and to just take it all in. And wouldn't you know - our luck continued...just as we walked out onto the platform, the rain let up!


This the the area where the elevator shafts were (or maybe are??) where they would have brought the Gladiators up from the underground area.


Alex is really "feeling" that Gladiator aura here! He's ready for battle!!












Next we went down below the arena. Here you had to have an employee of the Colosseum take you down, there is a locked gate that has to be open by her. This is where the animals were kept and the gladiators were sent to wait for battle. We saw the shafts that the elevators would have been that were used to bring the animals and gladiators up to the arena to fight. This was fascinating!














Next we got to go all the way up to the top tier of the Colosseum. My dad didn’t climb all the way up. They said there was an elevator for those who couldn’t walk up the steps, but it was broken. He didn’t want to climb up with his knee. We had a great view of the Colosseum as well as of the surrounding area of Rome.










This tour by Walks of Italy was fantastic! All in all it was about 3 ½ hours long. 

After the tour we walked back to our apartment. We walked past quite a few street vendors and people posing for pictures. It really was a fun way to get a feel for the city. 


Piazza Venezia



The Victor Emmanuel Monument





Trajan's Column


For dinner we went back to Pizza Re, this was one of the places on the Food Tour we did on our first night of our trip. Once again, it did not disappoint!


And actually, after our waiter took our picture - he took our picture again, and put their menu in the picture - and said "make sure this one gets on facebook"! He was quite funny!


Views from our apartment balcony at night....




Another fantastic day!  

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