Michael and I booked a Rome on Your Own tour from the ship.  A bus brought us into the city centre, basically at the front door of the Colosseum! Arriving at 10:45am, we exited the bus and could wander around Rome at our leisure with a return time to the drop off point of 4:30pm.

Here is what we saw as we exited the bus  – the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum!

The Arch of Constantine:

Olive trees by the Arch:

Because it was Christmas Day, tours of the interior of the Colosseum were closed.

Seeing pictures of coworkers in front of the Colosseum, I guess I expected the Colosseum to be in the middle of a busy piazza. What it was was boarded up almost all the way around – busy with restoration and renovations and not so crowded (thankfully) because of the early hour.

Here are pictures as we walked around the Colosseum:

It’s hard to believe but right there to see – that this amazing structure was built over 1900 years ago and could hold an average of 65,000 people!!!  Amazing!!

S, xo