playing gladiator

An obvious must-see was the Coliseum. The line to enter was almost a third of the way around it, but thankfully we had heard about a Roma Pass and purchased one for each of us so we marched to the front of the line and they let us in! I couldn't believe it! Why wasn't everyone buying these? It got you reduced admission to a few things around the city, free admission to the first two of your choice, and free use of public transportation. Come on, isn't that a no brainer? Ok - so we didn't use it other than the Coliseum so I guess maybe people didn't want to spend the money. But immediate admission instead of waiting in line all day is worth a few extra dollars to me!

We purchased an audio guide, but to be honest it was too thorough to listen to. Mark agreed.

It was really crazy to think that this had been built 2000 years ago, especially while walking around inside. The engineer in Mark was telling me all about how it was done without mortar; just stones stacked together equally until one was left to hold it all together. Smart guy.

The Roman Ruins were nearby so we skipped (that's a lie - Mark skipped while I was dragging my feet) across the street to check them out. While strolling through, we wondered what this looked like in its prime.

 On our last night in town, we made our way back to the Coliseum at dusk...

 Overall, Rome was a great visit. We both agreed that it wouldn't be a place we'd return to; there are too many other cities we'd like to see.