Not much need for explanation. I always find it so strange that so many souvenirs of Rome depict the colosseum, a place where unimaginable cruelty occurred. Oh, and you can get your picture taken with a gladiator. You can see scaffolding because some extremely wealthy Italian has decided to pay for restoration (cleaning) of the colosseum out of his own pocket. Our guide told us she finds new graffiti every time she guides a group through the colosseum. In addition to the grime from the huge amount of traffic in that area, they are checking for stability of the structure since a subway runs underneath and it’s built over an ancient lake that was drained for its construction.