I Recognize It's a Bit Ridiculous...

... to devote an entire post to one sight when we saw dozens, but I just can't help myself. The Colosseum was magnificent.

Iono about you, but I was hooked at first sight. It was such a treat to have the opportunity to return (actually, it was the main reason we decided to give Rome a second go) and really dive into it. I was impressed. 

By the way, construction of this sucker began in 70AD. 70AD!!!!!! I can't even begin to comprehend something so old. 

I pretty much refused to pay for a tour, but that didn't stop me from eavesdropping on other's guided excursions in an attempt to gain a bit of info. I was that obscure girl hanging out in the background pretending not to listen. But oh, I was soaking it up! Bah hah hah. Through this process, I acquired knowledge that now seems painfully obvious, but at the time I found it intriguing. For example, in the photo above, the area you see was once completely covered and acted as the stage. I was honest-to-baby-j walking around thinking it was as small as what we see today, and I couldn't for the life of me determine the thought process behind this particular composition. Way.to.go.me. I mean, No way has the structure changed after a mere 1940 years. Nooo way! DOH! Anywhom, things really started clicking for me once I overheard that gem.

That's my mom there looking up at the wall. What a massive structure. It was quite overwhelming to take it all in honestly, but in the best way possible. 

Here's me and the moms on the second story. We probably spent an hour walking around, and weren't able to draw any solid conclusions when it came to the seating. It housed up to 50,000 people, but I wasn't seeing it. Don't get me wrong, it's ain't called the Colosseum for nothing, there just wasn't anywhere to sit. And yet another situation where "one of the greatest works of Roman architecture" (according to wiki, but I concur 100%) isn't the same in the 21st century as it was in the first. Come on now guys, what's that about?!

Apparently (after research), the seats were made of marble and numbered to correspond with each individual's ticket. The seating was tiered and given according to status. As far as we could tell, none of this remains. 

I was leaning over the edge to get the cross and Arch of Constantine. It was a pretty busy day with the marathon, which made it lots of fun. I'm sure it's soooo much more crowded in the summer months. When we came the first evening after it had closed, we had the place to ourselves. There was a kind of magic in having something so grand left to us and us alone. Even while freezing and soaked through from the rain, we were fully encompassed in its power. All the cold and wet ran away from our little awe-stricken bodies with the storm. I especially appreciated the moment after returning and realizing just how crowded it could get. 

I like this one.

Right across the street a massive area filled with ruins caught our attention. Had we known better, we would have allowed ourselves more time. Arriving around 4 left us with only an hour to explore before closing, which simply wasn't enough. We could have easily dedicated an entire day to the ruins. There were gardens, remnants of old palaces and dozens of things we loved passing by without having the faintest clue as to what they used to be. The photo above and below were in this section. Back in the day, there were underground passages between these areas and the Colosseum.