Second Full Day in Rome: Walkathon

OK, to be honest everyday is a walkathon. Luckily the ancient part of Rome is relatively small. 

 The first stop after a quick breakfast was Piazza Navona. Gorgeous fountains, Egyptian obelisk (which seems to mark all notable sights), outdoor market with lots of pictures and paintings to buy... picture perfect Rome in a nutshell.

 We then walked to the Pantheon. HEY! Quit looking at knick-nacks from China, the PANTHEON is RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!! I couldn't resist. The Pantheon (pan = many, theos = gods) is an ancient building with each of the worshiped gods of ancient Rome around the interior... kind of a one stop shop for worship. It is not on the scale of St. Peter's Basilica, but then again, the Pantheon is ancient. Built in 126 AD with no electricity or gas powered tools, it is 142 ft tall and 142 ft in diameter. The concrete (a Roman invention) is 23 ft. thick at the base of the walls and 5 ft. thick at the oculus. The concrete at the top also used pumice which was much lighter than the materials for the base. The coffering also helped reduce weight.

 Here's the oculus, which is the only source of light. It is 30 ft in diameter. The floor was also beautiful. Sections had been replaced, but kept to the original design with holes for drainage (it is an open roof). Probably another reason all the different sanctuaries are around the circumference.
 The Pantheon is simply an engineering marvel.

 Here are the girls alone at the beautiful Trevi Fountain. That was a joke. There are approximately 2,000 of our closest friends, pick-pockets, and souvenir salespeople all around us. I'm glad we went, and it was indeed beautiful, but the fountains at Piazza Navona were just as impressive and we were almost alone there. In fact, before we got to Trevi, one of the girls said "didn't we already see Trevi Fountain?" There are lots of fountains and many are stunning.

 Lunch was at a little 'build it yourself' cafeteria style place we found on the way to the next sight. The pizza was good (not Roscioli good I was told, but good nonetheless),  the sandwiches were awesome, and the fried olives? Pure genius. I could of just ordered 2 or 3 orders of those and been quite happy.

 Everyone on the Spanish Steps enjoying a small rest at the halfway point in the walkathon. I just realized there's another obelisk too. Hmm...
 Next stop: the best gelato in Rome, Il Gelato di San Crispino. They do not have cones, why? Changes the taste of the gelato. All the flavors have very muted colors, why? They add no coloring, they say the colors are just to attract small kids. I got my standard limone... an explosion of flavor. Yes, it is the best gelato in Rome, and that may mean the world. But you know, I may keep trying all the places we see just to make sure. Yeah, you can count on me.

 There are street fountains all around Rome. The water is clean and cool. Everyone splashes a little on there necks when it is hot as well as sipping or filling bottles to drink as you walk. This one is actually right outside our apartment. I mean right outside... just behind Abigail is our front door still open from where the others went in already. Maybe they are growing tired of my picture taking.

 Everyone is napping, well I may be in a minute, and if we catch our second wind maybe we can hit a few sights later this evening but I'm not going to push it... mainly because my feet are aching from walking so far in my cool Europe shoes (hey it's Rome, I'm going to try and look the part and not wear my hiking shoes). I do know a bottle of wine and some pizza from Roscioli's sounds really good to me for dinner... then again the unexpected has been great, so maybe we just try something new.

Ciao!