We had a long and busy day today. We began by taking the underground tour at the Colosseum. They've just opened the lower level and upper level recently. Previously, we were only able to go to the main level. The lower level is where the gladiators and wild animals would wait before the show. It was interesting to see the pulley's that were used to raise the animals and scenery; there were 60 "elevators". I never realized that scenery was used, but apparently the sets were quite elaborate, even recreating jungle scenes. Two hundred slaves were downstairs getting everything together. Performances were free, and the Romans had a great system for getting people in and out efficiently. The shows were an all day affair, and the people cooked in the Colosseum. Basically, they were tailgaiters! The animal shows occured in the mornings, and the gladiators, who were prisoners that were sentenced to death, came on in the afternoon. I was totally surprised that the Romans had a canvas awning that they stretched over the Colosseum! The last show took place here in the year 523 AD. Later we walked to the Roman Form with our new BFF. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. We have a new BFF here. Her name is Michelle, and we found her at the Colosseum. She's from Australia, traveling alone for five weeks, so we invited her to join us for the day. She is so nice; we really enjoyed her company. On the way to the Trevi Fountain, she stopped at an ATM and it ate her card! Speaking of the fountain, Deb keeps callling it "Trivia" fountain, but she made sure to throw in a coin so that she could return to Rome some day. I told her it worked like a charm for me! In the evening, we strolled around Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiore, had dinner, and drank a couple of bottles of wine in our courtyard with our new BFF. Deb leaves tomorrow, and we'll be heading for home on Friday.