Roman Colosseum (September 29, 2025)
There are many, many impressive things to see and do in Rome, but the Roman Colosseum is arguably at the top of that list. When Elena was doing her homework, she found a tour that would take us to the underground parts of the colosseum. And I would argue that this was even cooler than going to the colosseum itself. And the colosseum is already ridiculously cool to see just from the outside:
The Roman Colosseum in all its glory
This was what would be the first of many jaw dropping moments for Violet and Elena. Yes, for me too, but I’ve seen these sights before. Granted, it was over 30 years ago and memories fade for sure. But the first time you see this spectacular view, it just takes your breath away.
Bill & Elena look at the camera while Violet can’t take her eyes off it
FAIR WARNING: I took a boatload of pictures here. Even not uploading all of them there are still a ton. Yes, they are in gallery view and you are free to scan and skip. It’s just one of those sights that no picture can do justice and we had special access to the underground that not everyone gets to see (and sharing is caring, right?).
This day was anchored around this visit to the colosseum. I’d argue that this week and possibly this month has been anchored around this visit. Not many other places can top it. And that went for the Romans when this place was fully operational too. The colosseum took 8 years to build and was free to the public. It was primarily used as a political tool to generate votes and sway public opinion.
So these first pictures are what you see when you first enter the colosseum. It’s impressive and shows the contrast between the 2,000 year old structure and the surrounding support that has held it together. But we were just getting started. The underground tour was taking us to where the real magic of the colosseum took place.
The underground is quite impressive. The first thing we noticed is how much care they put into every detail. The floors were incredibly well crafted. These were the floors of the basement. The only people who would see them were those competing in the colosseum. And yet, there was every attention spent to every detail. Why not dirt? We speculated it was both for the health of the gladiators as well as easier to clean and maintain for the crew.
In addition, we viewed and walked through the intricate tunnels that spanned the underground of the colosseum. This included where they kept the exotic animals including extremely large animals like elephants — which would have been a sight to behold at that time.
And then there were the elevators. Yes, full-sized pulley-based elevators strong enough to lift said elephants into the stadium. The technology was incredibly advanced for the time and it was one hell of a show.
This underground experience felt almost like we were being led through a private tour of an archaeological dig. About 30 years ago I looked from the top and saw the parts below that I now got to walk through as part of a guided tour. There’s something completely different about walking these tunnels and being so close to spaces where all of this took place. It’s surreal.
And that, alone, would be enough to “fill my cup” for the day, but we got to keep going. Once we were done with the underground, we came out through a private steep staircase and ended up in a VIP area of the colosseum where we could look around and see from above where we just were down below.
I’m sure that these pictures don’t do the full experience justice (they rarely do). I highly recommend the underground experience if you have the chance when visiting the Roman Colosseum — it’s a wonderful adventure and adds to an already epic experience overall.
But this wasn’t the end of the line for the three of us as there was a “part 2” that began right across from the Roman Colosseum; another guided tour by the same company that Elena booked with. This time we were going to the botanical gardens and the Roman Forum. But first, a few more pictures of the Roman Colosseum as we exited out.
Roman Forum
I will totally forgive you if you choose to exit out here. This post is a twofer. And, of course, the Roman Forum is exquisite in its own right. Sure, it’s not considered one of the seven wonders of the world, but it certainly is breathtakingly beautiful and worthy of the time we spent together there.
By this time, however, Violet was hot and tired and had done enough sight seeing for the day, so she opted out and went back to the hotel. Elena and I simply took to the shade and slowed our pace a bit to ensure we saw what we came to see and it was totally worth it.
Part of the Roman Forum where the vestal virgins lived
When we entered the Roman Forum, it was a bit like whip lash. There was so much to see. Even with a guide walking us around, it was more like speed dating than exploring. Everywhere we looked there was something ancient and magnificent to examine. Some were just the remains while others were full structures partially reconstructed or restored for the full impact.
I can’t even begin to capture all the history that is contained in these images. I know that the third and fourth images in the top row show the original road (as in “all roads lead to Rome”). As we continued to climb the views got better and better. Then we got to the very top which opened into this well maintained botanical garden.
Spectacular contrast between the vibrant greens and stone colors
And of course, there were some spectacular views from the highest points looking out and around from the Roman Forum. Here are just a few (along with a friendly seagull):
And JUST when you thought you were at the BOTTOM of this post there’s the famous quote by Steve Jobs, “and just one more thing …”
I lied. This post is a “threefer” not a “twofer” and I feel bad about it ;-)
Trevi Fountain
So before we completed this epic day, Elena wanted to have us visit the most famous of all the fountains in Rome. The Trevi Fountain is where all the aqueducts end in Rome and the architects wanted to create a fountain that signifies this magnificent feat of engineering.
Standing in front of the most epic fountain in all of Rome
This fountain collects 3,000 Euros each day by individuals tossing over their shoulder so that they will return to this very spot in the future. That’s over 1 million Euros annually! And it is just as impressive at night as it is during the day. We watched so many people take their instagram shots in front of this fountain. Everyone going for that perfect pose getting everything “just so.” Here’s more of what this fountain looks like so you get a good feel for how impressive it is.
Okay, probably another instance where the pictures don’t do it justice, but you can’t say that I didn’t try. We certainly covered a lot this day and I’m happy to share it with you — even at the risk of over sharing with such a long, long post and with so many pictures.
Thank you for hanging with me and getting to the bottom of this one. I know it took awhile to get here.
