Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down: Welcome to the Colosseum

I woke Tommie up EXTRA early to head over to the Colosseum in Rome. You know, the place you see in movies like Gladiator. The place you read about, the place that you envision what it must have been like to live in that Era, to hear the crowds, and to battle the beasts. Yeah... that place.

I heard the lines get extremely long and in order to beat the crowd and get decent pictures without hundreds of people in them I needed to be there early. So justifiably, off we went at 6:45am.

As soon as we got off the metro, we walked up the tunnel and out the exit and there it was. I couldn't believe my eyes. You just don't see things like this in the States. Everything you've studied, read, or seen about this place is NOTHING like being in its presence. I stood in awe. All I could do is stare up the walls and around the corners of this incredible structure. As we entered, I tried to be in the moment. Can you even imagine what it must have been like thousands of years ago? Can you hear the crowd? Can you see the fight? Did you have your thumb up or was it down? Were you a spectator or were you a gladiator? Can you feel your heart pounding harder and harder until you hear the rustic gates open and its your turn to face the light, to face the crowd, to face your worst enemy?

I can't, I couldn't. I hope these photos give you a glimpse of what it was like.