Rome, Italy May 17

On Wednesday we got up early and made it to the Colosseum before the line got too long. This was our longest day of the trip. We went to the Colosseum. It was huge and you could imagine the Ancient Romans there cheering. I was amazed by the network of halls and chambers that were under the floor. Part of the floor was being rebuild so we could see what it would have looked like back in Ancient Rome. You can see that in the first picture. Kevin and I did an audio guide that lead us around the ruins and told us the history. It was fun and and worth it. I really enjoyed seeing the Colosseum. Parts of the Colosseum were destroyed by an earthquake. The third picture is of the outside of the Colosseum. This part is original. This was a massive building and a highlight of the day.

Outside the Colosseum, we got lunch from a street vendor and found a place in the shade. Kevin worked his bargaining skills with one of the sunglass vendors. The vendor wanted to sell the glasses for 25 Euros and Kevin said no 5 Euro. The vendor said no so Kevin and I walked away. The price went down very quickly and finally he agreed to 5 Euro. I was amazed that Kevin was able to bring the vendor down that quickly and that far down from the original price.

After the Colosseum, we made our way over to the Ancient Rome ruins. This was the Roman Forum area. In Ancient Rome, the Forum was a busy place in the city. It was neat how large some of the ruins were. There were also ruins just laying around. I think at one point in the Colosseum I was sitting on a pillar that had fallen. You could see the ancient writings on some of the ruins laying on the ground. I really enjoyed seeing all these pillars that had not fallen. I couldn't help but think about how old these building were and that parts of them were still standing.

Next we went to an ancient seaport called Ostia Antica. There were a lot of ruins to see here. We then were able to go to the beach for a little bit. We saw the Tyrrhenian Sea. This sea connects up with the Mediterranean Sea.

On the way back to our shuttle stop we were able to see the Colosseum with the lights on. It looked very eerie.

After such a long day we went back to the hotel and slept in the next morning.