Day 4: Pantheon and Trevi Fountain

I changed into my shorts and sneakers and went downstairs to confirm the best walking route to The Pantheon. The bell man drew me what looked like a simple path to the Pantheon, which he claimed would take about 20 minutes. Well I clearly missed the turn, and ended up walking the entire length of Via Del Corso, which is the big shopping street, with all the fru fru shops. I didn’t stop in any of the shops because I was starting to get hungry. At first I was thinking pizza, but then after last night’s poor dinner I thought I would prefer a good pasta lunch. I ended up at Piazza del Populo, which is a really cool Piazza. Its an oval shape with an arch at the opposite end of where I came into it. There are twin fountains on the long ends of each oval, with some very nice statues.
I found an Italian restaurant named Rosati with outside seating in that Piazza, and sat down to a very nice Spaghetti with Clams.







After lunch I decided it was really time to find the Pantheon, so I consulted my Rome guide and started on my way. About ½ way there, I stopped at a meat/cheese/ pasta store. I bought some dry pasta which I hope to have for dinner tomorrow night at home! Then to the Pantheon. It is immense…when you realize, again that this was built in Ancient Roman times its amazing. Its one of the only buildings from the Ceasar days that is still in working condition. The hole in the roof is really cool as well. Apparently when it rains it’s a very cool effect. Now the Pantheon is essentially a tomb of Italian dignataries. I must re-read Angels and Demons as I think the Pantheon is in that book!
After I was done with the Pantheon, I thought about getting a gelato again, but I have this big dinner tonight, so I decided to skip it. I was going to just go back, as there were a couple of presentations at the conference that I wanted to catch. But I saw the sign for the Trevi Fountain and that it wasn’t far. What a mob scene. I must admit I didn’t throw a coin in, but I did take a picture of myself. Its really beautiful.
Finally I started back to the hotel for a quick change and I bumped into Lorenzo and Allison pushing the kids in their carriage! We had a laugh about how we could bump into each other, and I promised to stay in touch. I quickly shot back to the hotel, went to one more session and had a couple more meetings.
Now to a shower and to get ready for the Gala Awards Dinner!