Pantheon, Rome

We dropped the hire car off this morning in Civitavecchia as we thought it would be a bit easier than driving into Rome. From Civitavecchia we caught the train and thinking we would make sure we got a seat we booked first class tickets, only to discover there was no first class carriage and we spent the hour long trip crammed into the luggage and boarding area. It wasn't pleasant and we were surprised at how ignorant many people are. We did have some fun travel companions; two couples had just got off a cruise so we chatted and laughed with them the whole way. It took our minds off our discomfort.

On arriving in Rome we went to get a taxi only to be told he was unable to go where we wanted to go and he directed us to another taxi rank that would be able to take us. Whether it was poor directions or lack of understanding, we did not find the taxi rank and instead made our way on foot to our accommodation. We finally arrived, a little bit cranky (that was Brad), and a little bit stressed (that was me), but at least we found it and we finally checked into our accommodation for the next four nights.

Once we unpacked we hit the streets. This is our second visit to Rome but as our trip last year was just a day trip from our cruise we only managed to see a couple of the main tourist attractions. We had a long list of Must Sees to get through.

First on the agenda was The Pantheon, the temple of all the gods. It is a former Roman temple, now a church, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). It was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. Its date of construction is uncertain, because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple but rather to retain the inscription of Agrippa's older temple, which had burned down.

The square outside the Pantheon was packed and filled with tour groups. We have been lucky avoiding the crowds for most of our trip so far so this wasn’t as easy to photograph or enjoy. The constant smell of cigarette smoke and butts everywhere didn’t help with my impression either.

Thankfully we returned the following morning and managed to avoid the crowds and check out the inside of this historic building. While nowhere near as elaborate as many that we have been into, the simplicity of the ceiling, the round shape and tall columns give it a very elegant feel.Read more