The Pantheon
Built
like a billion years ago, the Pantheon is one of those sites that if you
don't see, you haven't been to Rome. I think every religion has had a
place of worship here and a few people - such as Raphael (the artist, not
the Ninja Turtle) - are buried in the Pantheon. There are a zillion
cafe's surrounding the Pantheon and plenty of stores to the east (towards
Corso).
From the pensione. you walk about 5 blocks south on Corso and turn
west on via di
Pietra
(if you turn east you'll wind up at the Trevi Fountain). You'll
encounter a lot of tourist shops along the way and a great ceramics shop,
Centro Raku. Places like
Raku will make you glad to have brought bubble wrap. It's at the
intersection of via Della Guglia, and V. dei Pastini, right were Pietra
turns into Pastini (there's a not too attractive photo of the place on
their website, but it's quite authentic, showing you the prominent Italian
graffiti that you see everywhere). In 2000, Levi, my
brother-in-law, had bought a few gifts here. He liked them so much, he asked
us to get him something when we returned to Rome the following year.
Today you can find a clock from Centro Raku in each of our homes.
From the back
the
Pantheon doesn't look like much, but if you look at the ground-level
you'll note a few cats laying around (see the picture in the upper left).
Do yourself a favor and read up on the Pantheon before you go there. Walk inside and marvel at the center rooftop opening. Admire the billion year old columns. Have lunch in the piazza. Wonder if it has indoor plumbing. And then stroll through the neighborhood and see Rome. If you keep on heading west, in around five short blocks, you'll come across Piazza Navona (photo to the left). The fountains here are wonderful and it's a great place to take a photo or people watch.
Trevi Fountain
If
you ever saw Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, you know
the Trevi Fountain. And unlike the famous scene in "La Dolce Vita",
you can't take a splash in it. Honestly, outside of it's massive size,
I don't see what the big deal is.
I
think it's one of these places that's famous for being famous more so than
for being something great. I'm probably wrong. What do I know?
When we first visited the Trevi in 1999, all of Rome was under construction in preparation for the Papal jubilee, so as you can see in the photo to the left, we wound up with a great view of scaffolding. The following year (see picture on the right), the Trevi was in it's full glory.
From my 1999 Journal:
Through via del Tritone and down Stamperia, we encountered our first disappointment - [the] Trevi Fountain... was under restoration. . The entire area was sectioned off by a fence, there was no water in the fountain, and it was covered with scaffolding while restoration work was being done to it. This wasn't stopping anyone from throwing coins in the direction of the fountain, and Johanna and I did likewise.
There are plenty of stores all about, mainly dealing to the tourist
industry ("No kidding!"). What's real neat, and I doubt most people
notice, is that
you
can follow the
route of the "Aqua
Virgo" from here. There's also a good gelato place right at the
western corner of Stamperia and Lavatore.
By the way, In Italy when you order gelato or coffee or whatever, you pay for it first, get a receipt, and then go to the counter and give your receipt to the server as you place your order.
There's a saying that if you toss a coin over you left shoulder into the Trevi you'll return to Rome. Well, it's worked two out of three times so far. (By the way, did you happen to read the story a few years back about the homeless guy who used to steal the coins?) Anyway, I prefer the Piazza della Republica.
The
Coliseum
OK. All you Russell Crow fans -here it is! What's there to write? You probably know more about it than I do.
Needless to say there are thousands of cats that live all around the Coliseum. You may be lucky and see one of the elderly women who feed the cats going about. I have a zillion photos of the Coliseum.
Things to know:
- You have to pay to get in.
- Depending on the season, the lines can be long.
- Bring water with you. The vendors outside of the Coliseum will rip you off
- It's big, so it's never felt crowded.
- You can get an audio-guide and walk around holding a bock of plastic to you ear. Worth it? Nope. You're not going to remember a thing and you look like a tourist ("But I am a tourist! And you told me..." I know...)
- There's a group that gives free tours of the Coliseum to entice you to take their more elaborate paid tours of Rome. It's worth it - the free tour, that is.
- In 1999 you could look right into the heart of the Coliseum (see the center picture below). It's been covered up since then.
- Most of the stonework was stolen from the Coliseum to build parts of the Vatican! Those thieves!
- There's a church in the Coliseum. One early Sunday, were were walking around the grounds of the Coliseum when we heard singing and went to investigate and happen to come upon a service. Be polite. Don't disrupt their service.
- The Gladiators outside work for tips. Pose with them.
- Christians were not fed to the lions. Hmmm....
- Supposedly sea-battles were reenacted here.
- People used to live in the Coliseum.
- After an hour you'll want to head on over to the Forum. You'll want to take a nap later.
- I read recently that there was a good trade in Gladiator Blood - the Roman's used to drink this stuff.
The Forum
In Rome, next to the Vatican, this has to be my favorite place.
You
could spend hours here, walking around and breathing in the atmosphere of
ancient Rome. It's incredible that ruins like these can co-exist with
a modern city. What's even more amazing is that you can reach up and
touch the very walls that the ancients leaned against and walk on the stone
walkways that supported them.
The same group that hosts the free tour of the Coliseum also host a walking tour of the Forum...
