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My Mother was Italian and though I didn't have much opportunity to learn the language from her, I certainly got an introduction to the food, culture, and  people  (note: especially the food).  Over my adult years, I had the opportunity to visit the country a number of times including a recent two week trip to Rome.  It was my fourth time visiting the city.  Sound impressive?  Those previous three visits were over 25 years ago! 

A lot of things had changed  ...  Cell Phones didn't exist; cameras are now digital; all cell phones are cameras; everybody is taking picture or worse ... a selfie; there were more crowds; the weather seemed much warmer; Euros are in use now rather than Lira; and, of course, it is more expensive!  But, Rome is still one of the great cities of World.  It is visual feast for the eyes mixing the antiquities with amazing color palettes; churches with amazing interiors on every corner; Taxis, cars, motobikes, and scooters going every which way!  These are some of the things I hope to show you from the 6,500 images I brought home.

I've wrestled with what story to tell and where to start, and finally decided to begint where virtually every tourist starts ... at the Colosseum!  (The very first thing I had to do was learn how to spell the word.  It comes from the Latin word for colossal ... originally there was a giant statue outside the entrance.)

It was built 2,000 years ago from cement and stone.  It's size would still be considered impressive in today's World, and would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to construct.  It was most certainly one of the largest structures ever built at that time.

The first photo, taken atop the Monumento Nazionale (aka "The Wedding Cake")  shows the Colosseum tucked into the middle of the city.  Without a helicopter, its next to impossible to get an single shot of the entire structure ...  The road around it is now closed to all traffic except for taxis and  buses: 
 

Here's an exterior shot of the middle part of the Colosseum: 

The next image was taken on a different day; converted to black and white; and given a Sepia tone:

This image shows the very right side of the highest standing part of the Colosseum.  It can seen on the far right in the first image.

This was taken at night of the left side of the curve:  

Here is my favorite of the exterior shots I captured.  As usual, the light and haze in the air on the far left make it for me!

Another night shot.  It was taken at a very slow shutter speed so the streaks of light from the buses head and taillights would be caputred as lines of light showing the bus's path.

I hope you enjoyed this first post of the Colosseum.  The next will contain images of the interior of the building.

Bye for now,

Adam