On Saturday, we went to the Pantheon, after a later wake up time and breakfast at 9 (as if we were on vacation, haha!). We had tickets for a guided tour at 11 and decided to walk (36 minutes) as the forecast said rain at 11, continuing all day. Instead, the sun came out and the forecast kept moving the rain back all day. We got there early and sat on the steps of the fountain across from the entrance for a bit before going in. Tickets for entrance were already sold out for the day, so we were very glad we had prebooked.
The Pantheon is still a working church, and is the best preserved building from ancient Rome because of it. It really shows how colorful the buildings of ancient Rome actually were, though the outside is still drab and grey stone. The inside pops with colors: white, red, yellow, gold, as well as paintings and sculptures, and huge stone sarcophagus. There are only a few people interred under the dome of the Pantheon, one of whom is the artist Raphael.
Our guide, Julia, was fantastic. She talked nonstop for over 1.5 hours about the history of the building, its construction, its importance to the city, and the interior. We stood in one place almost the entire time, though, which was a bit tiring. She didn’t move us around the building or talk much about the more “modern” items in the interior, as her focus was very much on ancient Rome. The dome is one of the most amazing things about the building, and is the second largest dome in the world (the top three are all in Italy: Duomo in Florence is the biggest, and St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is third). Most amazingly, it is ONE piece. Built of concrete (a Roman invention), no one knows for sure how it was constructed, but they theorize that it was a poured concrete dome into a huge mold on the roof. It has a very modern design and a hole in the roof (to allow direct contact with God) that lets in rain, snow, etc. The ancient Roman drainage system in the marble floor is still in use to help get the water out! Hard to believe it was nearly 2000 years old!
We had lunch on a side street and then wandered toward the Jewish Quarter, stopping at a national museum called Crypta Balbi, a huge room/building behind a Roman theater. Very interesting museum with lots of information on the daily lives of ancient Romans. We spent some time searching for “real” gelato afterwards, before finally succeeding, then took an Uber back to the hotel. Karin had been out with her girlfriends late the night before and was meeting them for dinner. So Martin and Anders and I went around the corner and found a restaurant. I had fettucine al salmone and an oven-baked artichoke. Yum!
Sunday was Anders’ birthday, a big one: 60! When I had asked him what he wanted for his birthday some weeks ago, he answered “a trip to Rome”… har har. We had already gotten him one big present, but he was also awakened with singing and got a box of Oldtimers liquorice, a shirt, and a gift certificate for 8 people for a gin tasting at the local gin factory in Södra Sandby, which has won international awards for its gin.
We hadn’t made any plans for the day, other than a reservation at a restaurant in Trastavere, the old working class neighborhood, so we set off for the day to just explore the city. We took the Metro down to the Circus Maximus where they were just finishing up the Race for the Cure. Lots of people all over the place! The sun was shining and it was HOT. We walked over to Tibersola, an island in the center of the Tiber River. One of my colleagues had recommended that we go to the island and eat at “any of the trattorias” there…but there was only 1 restaurant on the island. Otherwise, all there is on the island is a big hospital and a church, so we were a little confused. Anders had also been recommended to try the food tents that are all along the edge of the river, but they were non-existent as well. After a little Googling, we discovered that the food tents pop up along the perimeter of the island starting in June, so we were too early for that! We did go down to the huge open area that skirts the entire islan and walked all around it in the sunshine.
We then walked over to Trastavere, but nothing much was open, probably because it was Sunday. We found a pizzeria for lunch and I had excellent carbonara. Then we took an Uber back to the hotel and crashed again for an afternoon nap. Around 5:30 pm we got back out and walked down to the Via Nazionale and shopped for awhile. Both Anders and Karin scored shirts. Martin and I stopped into a pharmacy to get allergy meds for him as he was really suffering from sneeze attacks. It was getting chilly by then and threatening rain, so we took an Uber to the restaurant back in Trastavere. It was a very nice atmosphere. We started with a Roman Specialties appetizer which included 6 different dishes. The white eggplant parmagiana and the ricotta with honey were amazing…the tripe, not so much. 😀 I also had a fried zucchini blossom with burrata and sundried tomato and I was so full after that I could barely finish my pasta. We walked back to the Metro through the cool, beautiful Roman evening. A good weekend!
