The walk to the Pantheon gave us an opportunity to take in the sights along the way. I marveled at the signs which were evident everywhere that the new Rome was built upon the old! In some instances, there were ancient stone steps leading to underground levels that were sealed off for safety.
In other areas, the paving stones on the streets were hundreds of years old. I had a new appreciation for archeologists. I totally understood why they are so passionate about unearthing relics of ancient civilizations.
When we arrived it was almost dusk and the Pantheon was closing its doors for the day. I was disappointed, but I was blown away by the size and height of the massive structure. I was only able to get the bottom of the giant columns in the photo I took of Lynn standing at the entrance although I was standing as close as I could to the Fountain of the Pantheon across the street.
I loved it there! I wanted to have dinner at the restaurant pictured above but we also wanted to visit the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps before heading back to our hotel. I must confess that although I admired the magnificence of both sights, I was not happy with the crowds of other tourists pressing in on all sides despite the lateness of the hour. Fortunately, we intended to return the following day to see the inside of the Pantheon and we planned to retrace our steps to the fountain as well.
Tired but happy we tumbled into bed late that night with plans to get an early start the following day. I was already regretting the fact that our time was so short. There was a lot more I wanted to see and do, but there just wasn’t enough time to do all of it on this trip! We definitely need to make plans to come again!
