Italy with the Campbells - Rome Day 2

Our second day in Rome was packed full of big tourist sites...the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.

We started with the Colosseum which was quite impressive!  It was much bigger than I thought it would be.  I think that we were most impressed with the underground section where people and animals were kept for the fights.  There were so many different hallways for them to go through and get up onto the stage.

Brian and Ben had to have a "fight" while they were in the Colosseum.  I'm not sure who won!

We then headed across the street to the Roman Forum which is a large area of ruins from around the time of Paul.  It was interesting to see so many ruins in one place and to think that Paul could have walked where we were walking. 

We then headed to the Pantheon which is a church with a domed roof.  The roof is made out of concrete and has lasted hundreds of years.  There is an occulus (a big hole) in the center of the roof and the sunlight was shining through when we were there.  I wondered what happens when it rains, but saw drains in the floor to take care of the extra water.

We walked next to Piazza Navona which is a big square with several statues in it.  There also were a lot of artists selling their hand-drawn pictures there and we enjoyed watching them work.

Our next stop was a very touristy place, Trevi Fountain.  This is a big fountain on the back side of a building in a place that you really don't expect to see such a large fountain.  We had some gelato while we sat and people-watched at the fountain before taking some of our own pictures.

Our last stop for the day was the Spanish Steps.  This is just what it sounds like - a whole bunch of steps!  They are called the Spanish Steps because they are near the Spanish embassy in Rome, but really have nothing to do with Spain.  We went all the way up to say we had done it.

We then headed back to the campground and decided that we would head back to FN the next day.  We had originally planned to stay another day in Rome, but we had seen everything that we wanted to.  It was a good idea though because then we would have a day to relax before a bit more sightseeing before Ben and Laura left to go back home.