When In Rome...

We arrived in Rome at about 1pm this afternoon and checked into our hotel. Then we relaxed for a while and headed out to see the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. While we were walking down the street, we looked down to see a face staring back up at us. There was randomly a pig's head resting on the sidewalk. I think we were both speechless for about the next block.

Trevi Fountain is the large 18th century fountain of Neptune (remember the part in Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck is trying to borrow the girl's camera?). It's tradition for tourists to throw a coin into over their shoulder to make a wish and to ensure that they will return to Rome. Actually, I just read an article yesterday about some street cleaners who were arrested for stealing money out of the fountain (usually, it goes to charity). So we threw in our coins and took some pictures, and avoided the guys who kept trying to hand us the flowers they were selling. ("If one more rose is thrust in my face...").

Then we walked over a few blocks to the Pantheon (not to be confused with Athen's Parthenon). It's basically a round basilica under a huge dome - it looked like a beehive crawling with tourists to me.

Ate dinner (lasagna = mmm...) in the square outside, then walked back to our hotel as the sky darkened. Kind of a leisurely afternoon.

Oh, and there's a weak wireless connection in our hotel room. What was wrong with England? The rest of Europe wants me to get online. Anyway, that's it for today.