Day 12 - Rome

July 3
The first day we were in Rome, when Bri landed, we were planning on seeing most of the town. With her delays though we didn't have near enough time to see it all. So we decided to head back to Rome one more time before John had to take off for work. So we woke up early and got a start on the day. We didn't get off as early as we would have liked but it was still early enough for us to get to Rome before lunch.

We parked and headed straight to the Colosseum. We took our time walking around from the parking lot to the Colosseum so Bri could see some of the many ruins along the way.

Some Ruins along the walk from the car to the Colosseum

By the time we made it to the Colosseum it was getting way hot so we went ahead and took a few pictures and headed straight for the line. Since it was the middle of the summer the line was WAY long. As we were standing in line we heard a guy talking about the guided tours, and that it was 4 Euro more to go to the front of the line get your tickets and go in with an English speaking guide. We decided it was worth the 4 Euro and headed straight up. As we were walking by the line we were just in we realized that we would have probably stood in line for at least an hour if not longer, and it was around 95 degrees or so.

First look at the Colosseum

Everyone was carrying these umbrellas around to block the sun so we thought we would try one and see if it really worked or not ~ it helped a little but it was still hot

Bri in front of the Arch of Constantine

John got to hold the umbrella while we were taking pictures

Mine and Johns turn

This cross marked the spot of the Emperors seat in the Colosseum

This door was the door used by the Emperor, it was his own personal door into the Colosseum. It is under construction because the earthquake that hit around Rome last year messed it up.

Some of the original marble flooring

Some of the many doors around the colosseum

There were holes like this all around the Colosseum. We were told the Colosseum was at one time covered in Marble and these holes are where left when the marble was removed. All the Marble from the Colosseum was used in building Vatican City

The pink building's were once the barracks for the Gladiators to live in

These are some of the remains of some of the old marble seats. The rich people had marble seats with their names engraved on them.

The floor of the Colosseum is removed but these cages where under the floor to house some of the smaller animals that were used in the fights. The Colosseum held three different types of fights Gladiator vs Gladiator, Gladiator vs. Animal and Animal vs. Animal. The animals had to be 2 different species though, they couldn't be the same animal.

Part of the new stage they have put in

This is the area of where one of the bathrooms was.

The door behind the stage was where the Gladiators would enter. There was a tunnel that ran from that door under the ground to the Barracks.

A cross on the side of one of the walls

You can still read the Roman Numerals above the doors. This was door number 33

Once we finished looking around the Colosseum we headed out to try and find a restaurant. We were all sweaty and ready for a nice cold drink and some food. We ended up finding this nice little restaurant right across the road from the Colosseum and ate there. By the time we finished eating we decided it was time to go ahead and head home. We were all hot and didn't feel like walking around Rome much longer.

So we took our time walking back to the car so Bri could pick out a few souvenirs for friends and family. She also took a few pictures around the outside of the Roman Forum. The last place we stopped for pictures before leaving was the Il Vittoriano, which is known for being the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Walking along side the Roman Forum

Il Vittoriano ~ Tomb of the Unknown Soldier