Tony and Colleen: Rome, Italy (Final Day)

Today is our last day in Rome, we leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Chicago. We have had 3 full days of siteseeing, and 4 good nights of Italian dining.

This is the bridge that we walked over each morning from Trastevere to the city center, considering the forcast for rain we were quite pleased it didn't start until mid-day.

We have been entertained eachday with someone along the street playing music, singing or street performing.

The Colosseum in Rome

Here you can see a distance shot of the Colosseum, and also the bricks that lined all the streets in Rome. All the streets were constructed using these bricks, all done by hand.

Here is a view from the upper deck of the inside of the Colosseum. Built in 72 AD

It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games. A picture where they have restored what the floor of the arena.

Above the arena area (the white area) they have resored what they believe the seating to look like. Tickets were free to view, and depending on your class determined where your seat was. The lower/closer the higher the class you were. The bottom level was reserved for the Senators. The Colosseum seated what they estimate to be between 40,000 and 70,p000 people.

Another view of the lower area (basement). You can see the structure that was used to store the animals, machinery, and props for the shows. Excavated in the 19th Century.