May 12th - Rome!

Entrance to Rome :)

We drove into Rome today. Although the city is perceived as very romantic, it's actually quite dirty and over populated. There was graffiti everywhere (even on overpasses that weren't finished being built), the streets were filthy, it was very noisy, and can you believe 1 million people live here? Let alone all the tourists. As we walked through the crowded streets, it was interesting to contemplate the importance of this city - to think that Christ walked these same streets, kinda. Apparently when they say the new Rome was built on top of the old one, they really mean it. The original streets are actually 15 to 20 feet lower than where you walk today. 

Down there is where the original entrance to this building was. 

One of the first things we were able to see was the...

Pantheon! Incredible!

It's huge! And sooo old! Although it looks pretty grungy, imagine how beautiful white marble is. That's what it's made of, so at one point it was absolutely breathtaking!

Even 2000 years later, this dome is still the largest un-reinforced dome in the world. Would you believe that it is made out of one solid piece of concrete? The Romans were geniuses! Just to give you an idea of how big this dome is, that oculus (opening) at the top is 30 feet in diameter! It's always open, too. So if it's raining, good luck on those marble floors.

Our next stop? The Trevi Fountain! Absolutely beautiful! It's also huge - like everything in Rome. The distance from Jupiter's foot to his knee is 5 feet, just a little shorter than me. So if you picture me standing right by his leg you can kind of get an idea of the enormity of this fountain. Another technique the Roman's used to create the illusion of the fountain being even larger was to place it in a very small square. It barely fits and there are large buildings on every side. 

I can honestly say I've never been in that kind of crowd before. I imagine it was a lot like a concert - but I've never been to one. Just to get down to the front of the fountain you literally had to push and shove, and there were people pressed up against every side of you. Explains why they warned us about pick-pocketing so much.

The tradition at the Trevi Fountain is to throw three coins for three wishes but they must be thrown with your right hand over your left shoulder. The first wish is to return to Rome someday. The second is to find romance. The third is a wish of your choice. It's a pretty good marketing technique I'd say. Wikipedia says they receive 3,000 Euro's a day! But of course stubborn Kyra didn't thrown a single coin in. Like I was going to waste my money in a fountain. So I just pretended ;) hehe

We took a lovely break on the Spanish Steps and had to chance to sketch while we rested. I still need to look up the significance of these steps... 

They extend all the way up to the building in the background. 

 View from where I sat.

There was a couple taking wedding pictures on the Spanish steps :)

Rome is incredible. There is no way you can see everything in just 3 days. There are so many significant buildings that is almost overwhelming. Every street you turn down you run into another ancient Roman building and you just want to know more!