Around The World Without Flying: Rome Part 4 - wandering through the city, the famous fountain and the Pantheon

Before I finish my story of my first visit to Rome, I have just realised that one of the photos intended for the last post did not load up. Sorry about that - it was late, I was tired and did not pick it up at the time. So I have included it amongst the photos that are posted below. This is a photo of people praying at the feet of the statue of St Peter inside the basilica. They rub or touch the feet as they pray. The feet already look quite worn down . . .

After we left the Vatican, by which time it was quite late in the afternoon, we headed for more historic sites. It was incredible to see the complex maze of narrow lanes and small town squares, each with their own character and special features, and of course lined with small shops, always including coffee houses and gelato shops. I have never seen so many amazing gelato and ice-cream flavours. And our lovely tour director treated us all to a double gelato treat on this long walk, which was very welcome. What a sight we must have been - but then just about everyone else was doing the same. It was still very hot.

But we did have to be careful of pickpockets around here. The worse offenders are gypsy youngsters who dress like any other kid and are hard to spot, but are very well trained by their parents. This is because under Italian law children under 14 cannot be prosecuted for a crime. The gypsies take full advantage of this well-intended law. Luckily none of us lost anything. We had been well warned.

The two standout moments on this long walk were throwing coins into the famous fountain featured in the old movie ‘Three Coins in a Fountain’, which most of us did in the Italian way (turning your back to the fountain and throwing the coins with your right hand over your left shoulder), and visiting the Pantheon. Throwing the coins was harder than you might think - there were so many people, mostly tourists, all trying to do the same thing. After all, you did not want the coins to whack some poor dreamer in the face with your coins . . . On the other side of the coin, if you'll pardon the pun, I saw one enterprising Roman with a fishing line in the water; no prizes for guessing what he was trying to do!

The dome of the Pantheon is incredible. Its design and construction were not only an engineering feat for that ancient era, but also a scientific marvel. In the centre of the dome there is a hole to allow the rays of the sun to shine in. From where they light up you can tell the time and other information. It is extraordinarily clever and well worth looking up on the internet. (Unfortunately I can't remember all the detail. I could barely stand by then.) Moreover, to catch any rainwater that might enter the hole, there were small holes in the floor vertically below the hole and a short distance away as well, with a drainage system underneath the floor. And we are talking about a beautifully made marble floor, with rare red marble from Egypt, as well as other coloured marble from other sites forming a rich pattern. This marble is still intact and in good condition today.

It was with great reluctance that we said goodbye to our absolutely delightful Roman guide. It also was with great reluctance that we left left Rome early the next morning - and not just because we were ‘zonked’ after all that walking, climbing and standing. It is an incredible city I would love to explore further, especially with an historian who is a great raconteur as was our guide.

Visiting a city with such rich history really brings home the fact that while in Australia we have some powerful ancient rock paintings created by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people long before the Romans built their city on its seven hills, our buildings are all less than about 240 years old! We simply do not have ancient castles, fortresses, walls and all the rest. The story of what we euphemistically refer to as white settlement but, let’s face it, was really an invasion - only began about that long ago.

Note that again as my two sets of photos were merged, they did not come out in the order I would have liked, but I cannot change that. Or at least, I am yet to learn how to fix that problem.