After our long sleep to recover from the 36 hours of travel since departing Tumut we woke at 7.00 to a traditional Italian breakfast consisting of croissants, bagals, donuts that were just divine sweetness, loads of breads and much more! We started our day with meeting our most amazing guide Paolo who led us on a 15minute walk to the Collesseum which just blew us all away. Seeing it in photos could never compare to the overwhelming feeling and atmosphere of actually looking at something built over 1900 years ago.

Looking at the partially remaining infrastructure that is so well preserved we learnt that it was made from marble, travastine limestone and clay brick which were triangular shape which made for easy slotting into the morta which used as a cement. When we walked in our immediate reaction was WOW! Some of us still in disbelief of how something so large and detailed could be made so long ago.

The arena which is most popular for being known as where the gladiators faught was a little confusing at first as the original wooden floor was no longer there we could see the many underground tunnels for which they used to keep the many different beasts. Back when the colosseum was running they used to have a morning session where the beasts would fight to the death, followed by a midday session of the executions of slaves and criminals/murderers and then afternoon gladiator fights which the crowd would actually decide on the losers fate(life or death).

Roman Forum was next which is ruins of part of the first roman empire, it actually felt like we were walking into the past as we could imagine the original infrastructure and seen barely touched buildings, julius ceasars place of cremation and a large senate. Along with palenine hill.

We moved on to the Piazza Navone which was an astonshing place of culture, art and amazing infrastructure. We then went to the Trevi Fountain and were all amazed at the size of it and everyone had fun throwing in coins and making wishes- especially if it means we get to come back to Rome! We also enjoyed a lunch of pizza and gelati- and this was an amazing experience.

Afer lunch, we then went to the Spanish steps and had a walk around the area and saw many popular stores- including Gucci- some girls were very excited by this!

We had dinner at a restaurant near the Colosseum and it was lovely- the pasta here is far better than what we enjoy in Australia. We also got night views of the Colosseum and the lights surrounding the city. Having a great time and look forward to the Vatican tomorrow.

By Rachael and Hayley :) Hello to all at home!

The Colosseum

Monumento Vittorio Emanuele II- view from 'The Wedding Cake'