Tuesday 24 November

We end up having breakfast at the same time as some ladies from Spain on holiday. While I get ready to go Malcolm goes and gets boarding passes and bus tickets printed. We walk to the coliseum. It's pretty impressive and after a few quick snaps we get in line to buy tickets. There are a lot of ppl trying to offer guide services. The prices are not correct we notice when we get to the ticket office. We join an English tour for a few euro extra. It's great to learn and see. Also to know that the books I've read are pretty correct with their historical data. The guide tells us that Christians were not chased by animals, but that there were staged animal hunts (armed men) that were sometimes messy. It's interesting, because after the tour we read a plaque in the coliseum saying that unarmed ppl were chased and killed by animals. I wonder what is truly correct? They had an impressive sub floor under the stage and intricate passageways to enter the coliseum so that classes never had to meet or mix. There are a lot of ruins around the coliseum and our ticket covers entry to this also. We spend most of the afternoon wandering around the ruins. Some very nice views. After leaving the ruins enclosure we head to a massive monument. It's many stories tall, but thankfully free to climb up. We get a wonderful view of the city as the sun sets and a large moon quickly rises. There are ginormous flocks of birds flying around. Apparently roosting for the night. The air is swarming with birds and it's quivering with the flap of wings. It's an impressive sight. Dusk is upon us as we walk back home and dark when we arrive! Risotto and veges for dinner! Yum!