The first stop of the day was the famous Trevi Fountain. For years, my step-mom has been talking about it - saying that she wants a replica, or something similar, in our backyard. It was great to finally get there, but surprisingly disappointing. I had high expectations for it, and while it was certainly grand and breathtaking, it wasn't as... fountainy... as I had expected. Across from the crowd-induced chaos was an intricate Bulgarian Orthodox Church - complete with icons and reliquaries galore. Damian and I sat, taking it in for quite some time before attempting to find the Pantheon.
I'm no Sacajawea, that's for certain. I've been around the world, done plenty of traveling, but directions and navigation are not my strong suite. While I manage to always find my way, I sometimes take the long route. This time, my failure brought us to the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, Colona Traiana, Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, and other beautiful buildings in the immediate vicinity. A success in my book, but I still hadn't managed to get us to the Pantheon like I intended. I figured out how to get there, stopping at the erie and empty Santa Maria di Montrone on the way, but couldn't find the giant Pantheon from two-hundred feet away once we arrived - I was looking in the wrong direction.
Once there, we walked around the former pagan place of worship, trying to imagine what it looked like before the Catholic Church transformed it. Unusual in shape for a church, they managed to still make it into a glorious site, indeed.
The Pantheon was a perfect last destination for our Roman adventure. We went back to the hotel area, grabbed some amazing gelato - I had amaretto and Damian had nutella (nutella gelato... could you think of anything more delicious? No) - called home, and then headed to Termini station a bit early to camp out before our train to Paris. While there, we chatted, played rummy, and ate a delicious dinner. I had pasta cooked with large bacon bits, olive oil, crushed red pepper, parsely flakes, some salt, and parmasean cheese (the detail is for my future knowledge, so I can cook it). Om nom nom. Perfectly accompanied with a delicious, and surprisingly cheap, small bottle of white wine. Damian had seafood paella with shrimp, squid, and mussels, which was apparently equally satisfying to the taste buds.
Trevi Fountain
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Church of the Holy Name of Mary
Colona Traiana, Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, Etc
Pantheon
Nutella Gelato
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