Today was our day for a guided tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. We met at the meeting point close to the Colosseum and met Alice, our tour guide. She handed out audio sets so that we could all hear her as we walked towards

the Colosseum. She was a very good guide, offering historical facts as well as a few good stories. The Colosseum is really amazing and so interesting to hear what happened in the days of Augustus and the Gladiators!

Then, Alice took us to Palatine Hill, one of the most ancient parts of the city, to see the remains of the Imperial palaces and gardens. Spectacular view of Rome from there!!

We finished our tour with Alice walking down the old stone path which, as she said, are the stones that Roman Emperors, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and other VIPs walked on and toured the remains of the Roman Forum.

We had lunch and then walked part way back to our Monastery. We said goodbye to our friends, as we were leaving to catch a taxi to an airport hotel for the night (flight home on the 15th).