Trevi Fountain and Pantheon

We had another great day strolling around Rome. There is a subway system here and loads of buses packed to the windows but the city is not so large it can't be seen on foot. We found more neat little panini and gelati shops that way. Today's was really good on a side street off the Via Nationale. The owner kept chatting to us in fair English as he freshly sliced the tomatoes and salami for our panini on a slicer that was surgically clean. He obviously took great pride in his tiny shop and in his new son, Bruno, whose photo hangs on the wall. His wife made the tiramisu we had for dessert and he made the limoncello he gave us to try for the first time. A truly nice man.

Another of the must see places in Rome is the Trevi Fountain and as expected it is thick with hawkers, eateries with inflated prices and tourists making funny poses and getting their picture taken. The carabinieri are there and any attempt to climb onto the fountain for that "amazing photo" is quickly met with a shrill blast from his whistle. And yes, some thoughtless people really do try to climb onto it like it's playground equipment and not a national monument.

Close by is the Pantheon, a classically Greek rotunda shaped building of great antiquity. (I could have sworn I saw it in Paris). This one serves the same purpose recognising nationalistic and patriotic achievements. This one also serves as a consecrated site for religious services and as a burial site for the famous. Raphael is buried here having died at only 37 years of age. His rather youthful looking bust is displayed along side many others. Outside in the piazza stands an original Egyptian obelisk taken when Egypt was a Roman province.

The next stop was the Piazza Navona. The piazza is much larger than any of the others we have seen so far and blissfully it is without traffic as it can only be reached on foot. The centre piece is a large obelisk and fountain with cool clean drinkable water great to help fend off the rising temperatures. Everywhere are street sellers and trattoria. That seems to be its sole purpose now as apart from a museum at one end and a beautiful building near the fountain which was closed there didn't seem to be much else remarkable to see there.

As usual we went off the beaten track on our return. It seems every corner you turn in Rome presents some other unexpected wonder. Right in the middle of the Corso Vittorio Emanuale is an archaeological dig site of ancient Rome. The Italian fashions in the shops are just stunning, the traffic is quite simply insane. As far as I've noticed, parking is anywhere your car fits and for as long as nobody else screams about it. Pedestrian crossings are a good place to hunt for pedestrians and traffic lights are more of a suggestion than a command. Wherever possible we cross the roads by sticking close to the locals who seem to know what they are doing.

Click here for Trevi Fountain, etc.