A catch up day in Rome

What a wonderful day, yes we caught up on all the touristy things that we managed to miss on our walkabouts.

The Trevi Fountain.  Memories of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck surrounded us, along with the what seemed liked 5000 other tourists there today. 

The Spanish Steps, so anticlimactic, bit a wall of people around both of these attractions.  The amazing thing there was no grumpiness, everyone was in a wonderful touristy mood.  And I didn't once worry about pickpockets,  helped that I had no pockets :)

And today was a day of lots of people watching.  We met a lovely young man from Sydney, Australia, he is working on his doctorate at the university of San Diego and was at Tuscany for his sisters wedding.   Truthfully it is very difficult to meet someone from Italy, it seems like 99% of the people you meet are tourists.  

 One of my favourite spots in Rome is definitely the Pantheon, built originally by Agrippa, a general of Augusta and then rebuilt by Hadrian.  It is considered one of the most perfect buildings of the world, 141 feet high and 141 feet diameter, it is definitely the oldest building in Europe and NA still standing and being used, now a Catholic Church.  

There are so many churches, the opulence of the churches was overwhelming.  They say at the Vatican that everything you see that is gold coloured is gold, gold paint, gold thread, gold leaves.  Every painting on every wall and every ceiling is a masterpiece.  I am pretty sure that this church is sant Ignazio, according to Fodors - "few churches are as gilt encrusted, jewel studded or stupendously stuccoed" as this one.  

The best part of the day was doing some people watching

Still don't know how he did this ....

Tonight we went back down to the Pantheon and had dinner in a little cafe under its 2000 year shadow.  Even the street hawkers added a little magic to the night, they had these little laser whirligigs that flew up into the sky and looked like shooting stars.  Magical.