Day 19 : Rome

For the last full day in Rome we decided to do our own little walking tour. After packing up some extremely delicious (please note the sarcasm) nutoka (yes… an offbrand of nutella) and peanut butter sandwiches on toast bread stolen from our hostel, we ventured back into the scorching heat. Luckily today we decided that it was best to visit structures that we could go inside. VERY good idea as it was apparently up to 39 today, not quite as bad as yesterday's 43, but still probably a good idea to stay inside.

Thanks to a group of Tour Bikers for blocking off the street thereby helping me get this great picture.

The day started by heading to Castle St. Angelo. For those of you that have read the books or seen the movies, it's one of the places where Angels and Demons was filmed. Aside from it's Hollywood recognition, it was also the place that the Pope could run to when there was some sort of threat to the Vatican. There's a passageway that runs all the way from St. Peters Basilica to the Castle. Pretty fancy stuff!

Continuing on our walking tour we crossed the city and made it to the Pantheon. I know I say this all the time, but it's quite incredible. I find myself just starting at things in awe of their hugeness.

Like this fountain across from the Pantheon. It's really something else. I had to use the photo with the woman in it to give a big of scale to the photo. It has to be at least 20 - 30 feet tall. Okay, back to the Pantheon.

I'm sure you all know that the amazing thing about the Pantheon is that using our materials today it could not be built the way it is. There is a giant hole at the very centre of the ceiling so that the weather inside is the same as outside. When it rains there are 22 small holes on the floor for the purpose of draining the water off the floor, similarly, when it is sunny out the sun streams through the opening. Also housed within the Pantheon is the great artist Raphael. So we stopped by his crypt to say a little hello before continuing our journey.

Now I know you've been waiting for this ever since you saw I was in Rome. Are you ready? I'm not sure you are… I definitely wasn't. I wasn't expecting what I saw at all. I knew it was grand and beautiful, but I hadn't adequately prepared myself for what I was about to see. So once again, I was taken aback. It's so intricately designed and there are probably more details than I could ever see after 5 years of staring, but nonetheless, I will hope that this one picture gives you the feeling that I had at first seeing it.

I present to you, the Trevi Fountain.

See you again someday Rome!!!

Quite the action packed day for us. It was time to cool off with the best Gelato in all of Italy. I'm not just saying this because I was delusional from heat exhaustion. They have actually won tons and tons of awards. San Crispino Gelato. Banana and Stracciatella.

Since we'd already had dessert we wandered home and picked up various pieces to form our dinner. Some amazing focaccia bread, a barley salad, a caprese salad and a small cup of red wine. The perfect end to our day I would say.