Rome

In August 2008 I wwent to Rome with John and his daughter, Emma. It was really hot (about 34 degrees all week) and I went to see the Colliseum. It's very old, built by the Romans two thousand years ago. It's a bit like a modern football stadium except it was used for fights between gladiators. Sometimes wild animals fought and sometimes Christians were killed here.

This is the inside of the Colliseum. It's huge; bigger than Brockville and nearly as big as Hampden or Murrayfield. There used to be a wooden floor where the gladiators fought but that has been destroyed. Now you can see all the rooms which would have been below ground; where all the gladiators and lions were kept

This is the Colliseum from the top of another monument. You can see just how big it is compared to the buildings round about it.

This is the Vatican. The Pope lives here. It is the smallest country in the world and completely surrounded by Rome. The church is the largest in the world and is very beautiful inside.

This is Castel San Angelo. I liked this place. It was once a church and then a fort and now a museum. No army could ever get into this fort. It's walls are very high and very thick. The only entrance is very narrow and goes down steps, then up, then round and round inside the walls, past three heavy gates, a moat and drawbridge and under wells where the people in the fort could throw burning oil on them or fire arrows at them. There are some great views from the top.

This is the catapult inside the walls of Castel San Angelo. I couldn't even lift one of the stones it threw. I wouldn't like to get hit by one of them.