4-13-09 Rome Day 2

Today was the day after Easter, so we were hoping that the Vatican Museum would reopen. We took the subway there just to check (this is really fast and easy, so it wasn’t much trouble). This was the first subway we’ve been on that runs part of its route above ground – this one crosses the Tiber River above ground. The windows were dirty, but it was still a sight.

Alas, the Vatican Museum was closed that day. No matter, there was plenty left to see in Rome. We took a trip to the Trevi Fountain, which was made famous in the movie La Dolce Vita. It is a pretty awesome sight.

Then we went down to the Pantheon, which used to be a Roman monument to their gods. It has since been almost thoroughly Christianized.  Most of the pagan gods have been replaced by saints, and a chapel has been placed inside. The dome of the Pantheon is a famous engineering marvel, and this did not disappoint. I wish that the original pagan statues could have been left alone, but who can blame a culture for being tempted after hundreds of years to leave their mark on the place?

The same was the case with the obelisk out in front of the Pantheon. This was an original Egyptian obelisk, covered in hieroglyphics and brought there by the Romans. It has since been topped off with a cross and decorated around the base with Catholic imagery.

This may seem like a light day, but the distance between these sights meant we were doing a lot of walking. 

The Internet is a hard thing to find in Italy – neither of our hotels had it, and Internet cafes are almost impossible to find. We managed to find an internet point in a money changing station, where we paid 1,20€ for 10 minutes on the net. Blazing through email, news, and social networking sites in 10 minutes is a skill that can be learned.

A final thing we noticed today – the city’s sewer grates all read SPQR – which is the ancient Roman acronym meaning Senatus Populusque Romanus (The Senate and the People of Rome). I just thought that was neat.