Click on images for more details!
The Colosseum
Everyone knows of this three-tiered, travertine-stoned amphitheater and its legendary stories of the gladiators. It was used in ancient Rome for public entertainment with displays of animal hunts, battle re-enactments, and water games.
We took the underground tour, which we learned much more about how the Colosseum functioned behind the scenes. From the basement, animals and men were hoisted up an elevator/trap door, and a natural spring from the east was fed in by an elaborate plumbing system for the water games.
I highly recommend booking the underground tour if you can. You can book through tour websites for a highly-inflated price, or you can get tickets the moment they are released on the official website for a more reasonable price. Unfortunately, I had to wake up in the middle of the night two nights in a row in order to get the cheap tickets, but exploring under the stage was well worth it.
Roman Forum
Adjacent to the Colosseum is the Roman Forum, ancient Rome’s city center for political gatherings and religious ceremonies. In the Roman Forum’s botanical garden, a meeting place for diplomats, you will find the origination of the underwater spring that feeds the Colosseum. Tourists can safely drink from the spring, which is a nice treat on hot spring and summer days. If you walk to the top to the botanical gardens to the terrace, you can get a bird’s-eye view of all the buildings that once stood in this gathering place.
Vatican City
Thousands of people flock to the Vatican daily to see the Sistine Chapel and Michealangelo’s amazing work. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos once in the chapel so I cannot show you photos here. But I can share with you all the amazing art. There are dozens of galleries that you have to walk through prior to arriving at the Sistine Chapel, so put on you walking shoes and expect a long visit!
Leave a Reply