Rome 1 Video

April 4/08 - Rome, the eternal city. We checked into our apartment located right across the Santa Maria Maggiore (see the picture of Lily and pigeons in front of the apartment building). Great location, just a short walk to Termini station and a supermarket. We made our way to the Supermercato, and bought food for breakfast and dinner. Anybody who loves roast/fried chicken may never try the chicken here - lots of feather still stuck on the cooked chicken, yucks!!
Then we went to Roma Termini to validate our Eurail Pass and made reservations for the next few trips, right up to Switzerland and for the night train from Munich to Amsterdam. The reservation counter accepted cash only, no credit cards. With the train secured, we purchased Roma Pass and then we could enjoy Rome....
After refreshing ourselves, we explored Rome on buses, metro and most of all, walking. We went from Castel San Angelo to Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. Tried the famous tartufo (chocolate coated gelato) at Tre Scalini at Piazza Navona and the tasty gelato at Giolitti and San Crispino. We did not like San Crispino but we loved Giolitti so much that we went there twice during our stay in Rome.


April 6/08 - we went to the Colosseum. See the post on Rome 2. We then wandered to the Pantheon. Horrors, it was closed! This could not be true, lots of tourists were waiting outside. We found out that it was closed for some ceremony and would be opened again after a couple of hours. Phew!! This was the last day in Rome and to think that we nearly missed the Pantheon. So what could we do? We wandered to a little church nearby and stopped twice for gelato - at Gelateria della Palma and Cremeria Monteforte.
The Pantheon was great. .. the hole in the Dome allowed light (and rain) through, it is a great architectural wonder, considering that it was built so long ago. A real gem not to be missed. Outside the Pantheon, Mr. Berlusconi was holding a presidential campaign. Free T-shirts were given out, it said "Spedire Veltroni in Africa" (meaning send his rival Veltroni to Africa) - who could resist something free, we got one each.