The Looming Colosseum

One thing that I have noticed while walking around Rome, is how often the Colosseum shows up in the distance. I love walking down the street and seeing the Colosseum at the end of my line of sight. It is so massive and dominant that when I watch traffic flow down the street, it almost looks like the traffic is going to smack right into it. The buildings in Rome are all built so close together, so the perception of the Colosseum from far away looks like it is right in the middle of the street. We have been doing a lot of sightseeing over by the Colosseum, and I've been using it as a marker to tell where I am. I think it would be amazing to stand on the top tier of the third outer wall. I am sure the view from up there would be absolutely amazing. Whenever I get on top of a hill, or am at a place that has a view, the first thing I always do is look for the Colosseum to tell where I am in reference to it. When you look at it from far away, it seems dreary and dilapidated. In the middle of a sunny day the middle of the outer wall looks black and worn. I like this look because I think it really helps show it's extremely old age. If it was all scrubbed and polished I think the Colosseum would look silly because it is cracked and falling apart. When looking at the Colosseum from far away the buildings closer to you are nicely painted with solid bright colors. Comparing this to the Colosseum makes the Colosseum look like it's lost in time. It is really an awesome effect, that is completely natural. As you can see by the pictures, the Colosseum somberly sits among a fast paced city. It has been relatively unchanged for 1000s of years, while the city around it grows with the times.