The Colosseum IS Rome! Well, that's what I think of when I think for Rome. I was a bit worried that, as with the Eiffel Tower, my expectations of something so famous would let me down. That definitely was not the case with the Colosseum - it was amazing!

It's all very convenient that they decided to put the Colosseum right outside the Metro, so it is literally the only thing you see as you leave the station. Arriving early (ish) so as to avoid the crowds, we'd picked up breakfast at the Supermarket and sat taking it all in .

We went with the tourguide option and learnt all sorts of stories about the place, but unfortunately, I felt it was a little rushed. The place is huge, and you just feel that it definitely would be able to tell some stories. To get a feel for the size have a look at this photo, and look at the base of the pillar in the middle where the gap in the crowds is, where there is someone standing right up beside the Colosseum.

The place is about 2,000 years old and the guidebook says that it saw the slaughter of over 5,000 animals and had a capacity of about 70,000 people. To go along to watch the 'festivities' was free, with the rich people getting court-side tickets and the poor people standing right up the very top. The Gladiators were trained across the road and entered the stadium via tunnels and the animals were kept under the wooden stage (which is obviously all gone now) until it was showtime .

The whole thing is stunning at any time of day, and we went back one night see it all lit up - which was very impressive. It was also nice to see it without all the throngs of tourists around. One can imagine that, when it was complete (you can see in this photo that about half of it remains or has been restored) it was an even more impressive sight.