SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2012, ROME, ITALY - After a hearty breakfast at our hotel we set out, in the rain, for our Sunday morning event, Roman Forum & Colosseum Tour, again with Angel Tours.  There we were joined by our Cruise Critic friends, Worth & Barbara Williams, from Atlanta, GA.  We had a wonderful tour with our guide, Stephen.  His stories along with showing such a love for the early people of the area made the history come alive!  Stephen's knowledge of the history of ancient Rome is amazing and a testament to the quality of the education he received at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.  Below, are some of my pictures of the area.

At the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine 312-315 A.D.

An example of the "pass- throughs" for the ancient pipes that carried water to the city and sewer away from it.

Excavation work continues on Palatine Hill

 

 

Below, the Arch of Titus 82 A.D.

with close-ups of the wall

 

And, the temple of the Vestal Virgins, (info & ruins)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Temple of Julius Caesar

 

 

A statute of Julius Caesar in an updated info display.

 

Here, the rain had stopped and we paused for a picture before entering the Colosseum.

 

 

Inside, the size of this place is overwhelming. Built between 72 A.D. and 80 A.D. it would accommodate 80,000 spectators.

 We pause again for a picture.  (Thanks, Worth!)

 Looking down into the underground shafts and passageways that were located below the arena floor.

 

 

Our 3 hour tour ended and after some further exploring and lunch with Barbara & Worth we returned to our hotel mid-afternoon using a taxi.

 

One of my errors in record keeping included not including in our day-to-day schedule our final tour for Rome.  It was "Heart of Rome" tour that began at 6 p.m. that evening at the Spanish Steps.  We totally forgot about it and it wasn't until the tour owner of Angel Tours sent us an email that we remember it, much too late.  Angel was very generous toward us, even offering us the same tour on the following day.  However, our schedule did not allow for that so he gave us a generous refund along with a half refund on the price of the Vatican tour.  (On our next trip to Rome, I'll definitely book tours again with Angel).