We saved William's best for last. Of course he wanted to see where the gladiators fought! Funny enough there were no "gladiators" around there that day; I'm told during most of the year there are people dressed up for photos. Either authorities are cracking down or we were there in the off season. Here we had scheduled the underground tour, so we got to walk out on the arena floor, then go underground, and then walk on the main level (third level, I believe). Our tickets also included the Forum, but it was closed for the day when we got out and we flew home the next morning. We were able to see bits from the side as we walked back to the hotel though.
Over the years, the Coliseum has been used by whomever is in charge - including when the church added crosses throughout. A lot of the missing stones were used in building other projects once the original uses of the Coliseum was out of favor.
With most of the arena floor missing, you can see down into the underground and the labyrinth where all of the "backstage" was occurring.
With the arena floor mostly open, the sun helped light up the underground, but it was still a little shadowy. You could get the feel for how claustrophobic and dark and loud it must have been when it was full of people and animals underneath and the screaming crowds up in the stands.
We walked up to the third level for some additional commentary. The views as the sun was setting were stunning. I couldn't tell how the pictures were turning out when I was standing there. I was glad once I saw them later in the evening that they turned out so beautifully.
That half circle shaped "stage" is where we started the tour. We felt big while we were standing there. It looks tiny when you're seeing it from above!
On our walk home we saw a lot of interesting things: the first was a flock of hundreds of black birds, which both of these pictures are attempting to show. We also saw many street artists and performers lining the sidewalks along the Forum. It made the 20 minute walk go by quickly with so many distractions. Another stop for gelato in the dark in the last few blocks also helped! I'm shocked I didn't take any pictures of the gelato except the first one. There were a dozen opportunities for photos!
Our hotel staff recommended a close by restaurant for dinner, and we had one last walk through the plazas around our hotel. The next morning we started the long trip back home. Since it was officially off season now, there were no more nonstop flights from Rome to O'Hare. Our layover in Heathrow was uneventful, and we got home in time for bed and a normal night sleep so we could return to school and work on Thursday morning! We did pretty well on Thursday but were sure ready for the weekend by the time Friday evening rolled around!
