Rome

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9 April 2008

Today was our Roman Ruins day.

We started at the Colosseum which despite being left to decay over many centuries and some of the materials being taken away for other uses is still very impressive and rather like a derelict version of a modern sports stadium. You walk around the inside on two levels. The areas beneath the where the various props for the fights were kept are also visible.

Following this we walked around the Palatine Hill, one of the seven on which ancient Rome was built and then the Roman forum which was the heart of the city. The number and size of the buildings.

Although there are quite a number of people about our age who are touring Rome, by far the largest number of visitors are made up of school parties of many different nationalities all of whom have a loud and continuous hubbub of conversation. This was nowhere more evident than at two of Rome’s more famous sights The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps that we visited in the afternoon. They were very crowded but the constant chatter produced a great atmosphere.

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