Roma

  The Trevi Fountain. Yes we did throw a coin, right hand over left shoulder. The fountain was fed by an underground aqueduct from some 20 miles away. Vertical drop in those 20 miles was 12 feet- now that's some engineering. Daily vacuuming of coins. Eye candy at lunch while waiting for Colleseum tour. Rosa, our beautiful guide, in the arena.   Subfloor of the arena where they housed the animals and gladiators before hoisting them up. Lions, giraffes, hippos, crocs, hyenas, snakes. Anything from the entire conquered Roman Empire. The local gladiator schools provided the fighters. Some say over 700,000 people were killed here and over a million animals. 80,000 people filled the stadium which had free entry. They could fill it in 30 minutes from 80 entry points.  One of many hoists to bring animals to the arena.   It's hard to picture the grandeur of the Colleseum in its prime since it was plundered and so many parts "redeployed" for other uses in the last 15 hundred years. But it had to be pretty cool!   Next stop was the Forum, a conglomeration of government buildings, shops, temples, etc. Our guide had books showing what it looked like back in the day. It wasn't until the last 40 years or so that Rome started protecting and preserving these areas. Again, so much was repurposed for other building. Plus each emperor would change and remove temples and buildings as they sought to leave their mark. The Romans did not believe in the "hereafter" so they tried to leave some physical monument for their memory.