Bad Timing and Good Stuff

BTW: To this point Erica and I have sparingly indulged in sweets and food items that aren’t entirely necessary. In France we did have our fair share of crepes, in Germany we got a pretzel, but Italy is where we really wanted to take advantage of the local food items and treats.

We started off the day trying the Vatican because on the last Sunday of the month entry is free…well apparently if you plan to take advantage of this you need a tent and a lot of free time the night before. From there we tried the Colosseum and found out that apparently Italy’s equivalent of the Tour de France is going on, Tour d’Italia, and lucky for us the home stretch encircled the Colosseum…strike two I guess. Lucky for us on our third try we feel like we hit a home run. We went to the Spanish Steps that is infamously known as a gathering and eating place in Rome. By the time we got there it was lunch time so we found a nearby pizzeria. We found here that instead of charging by the slice they charge per kilogram; Erica got marguerite (basically just cheese) and I got salami (close to pepperoni). After getting our appropriate weight of pizza they fold it up and wrap it in paper. From there we walked over to the Spanish Steps and had our first real Italian pizza…yum.

After the steps we went to the Pantheon and Trivi Fountain. The Pantheon was incredible and still in immaculate condition. Everything about that building has a purpose: the central opening at the top of the dome provides all of the necessary light for the space during the day and also creates natural ventilation as the heat rises up and out the top. The opening also acts as a sundial, as the direct sunlight enters through the opening it hits the walls and the time can be determined based on location. The one problem that is caused by the opening is that it allows rain into the building; this isn’t really a problem at all actually….when you walk inside the Pantheon you can feel a slight slope in the floor. The very center of the Pantheon is the highest point in the building so when it rains all that needs to be in is to open the doors and let the rain drain straight out. All cool stuff…oh and the other cool thing was just outside the Pantheon is where experienced our first gelato. Up to this point we’d passed on ice cream because we were holding out for the gelato, I think it was worth it. The Trivi Fountain was very pretty, but also very crowded making the perfect shot hard to attain. We were patient and got some pretty good pictures, we also made sure to throw a coin backwards over our shoulder into the fountain to ensure our return to Rome. For dinner we had pasta at a restaurant on a side street, it was pretty good and well priced, but we’re still waiting for that plate of fantastic Italian pasta.

Arivvederci…?