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St. Michael
The angel at the stop of the Castel Sant'Angelo Today I had planned on going to Pompeii. That was before I realized that I'd much rather have a slow, steady day than one rushes to catch a train bright and bloody early, wander around, and then take another three hours to get back to Rome (yup, takes three hours, roughly, one way).
So to make up for yesterday, I spent the morning at the Castel Sant'Angelo, wandering around, generally being amazed by the different levels and differences in architecture that you can see from various places. It's amazing how much I can pick out now without needing a guide. It was very interesting to learn all the uses it's had.
Trying to find my way back to the Pantheon today, I stumbled entirely by accident on the Piazza Navonna. Pretty, but I actually had to find the street sign ( I was looking for directions) to tip me off to the fact that I was in this famous piazza. Wasn't as grand as I'd thought it might be. The art was lovely (no, didn't buy any - in fact, the only souvenirs I've bought so far are an Azzuri jersey (1 down, 3 participating world-cup countries to go
- although I'll see if I can find jerseys for all 6 countries I'm visiting, I think) and postcards. Mostly not to send, but for places where I wasn't allowed to take pics. I also have now spotted about 7 of those street performers dressed entirely in gold or silver or whatever that (sometimes) pretend to be statues... They must literally be everywhere.
As I write the first half of this post, I'm sitting on a pew in the Pantheon, fuming about the totally disrespectful tourists, but in awe of the Pantheon itself, really. From the outside it's imposing, a vast wall of brick, especially if you're approaching from the back. Inside, though, it's spacious and light and airy; the natural light pouring in through the roof is unlike any other church (suppose it helps that this place was never designed to be a church!). A choir has just begun to sing... Personally I think we'd do better. And the acoustic in here is actually not that great. Eeenteresting.
Next stop, I think, will be the area sacra.
Which, she says, writing a few hours later, is definitely worth taking a peek at - ruins of three
Sunlight in the Pantheon
Sunlight streaming through the roof of the Pantheon, Rome. visible temples. Archaeological work still in progress, so a lot of insight into what's going on there in that regard (yes, I am a nerd). In other news, the ( is over the 8 on Italian keyboards, while the ) is over the 9, and it's throwing me off. Especially since I can't find a lot of the punctuation marks I really need! And the computer at my hotel is so very secure that it won't let me access my camera to upload photos. So you'll all have to wait a while longer, I'm afraid.
Another thing I love about Rome - public fountains. They're all over, the water is totally drinkable, and they're great for refilling water bottles!
And on a totally random note, I passed a store selling Duff beer. Yes. Duff. No, I did not buy any.
This evening's plans are chill - hit the park again for the football. Have to be up tomorrow to catch the train to Florence!
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