A free weekend

Today I set off with a couple

of ladies from my group to go sightseeing; we have a free weekend so after 

sleeping in a little we went to go see the sights Rome has to offer. 

We saw the Pantheon; in ancient times it was a temple that was originally built by Agrippa in Ancient Rome; later it was rebuilt by Hadrian. Now it is a Catholic church. 

It is famous for it's dome which has a hole open to the sky; yesterday they did "La pioggia di petali di rose" which is where rose petals are released from the ceiling on the 50th day after Easter. It would have been really neat to see. 

The Pantheon also houses the tombs of Raphael, and the first King of Italy. 

We ate lunch at a nearby place called Osteria de Falcone; I had fettucine noodles with tomato and sausage.  I also had Jerusalem style artichokes, which were fried. They were delicious. 

Afterwards we wandered to the Spanish Steps. 

I was so excited to see the Keats-Shelley house, which is where Keats, Shelley, Wilde, Byron, and many others spent time writing some of their works. It was closed. Boo!

Also the Spanish Steps were undergoing restoration so it wasn't very scenic and a gyspy lady kept begging me for money. Not to mention all the people there wanting to scam you or get you to buy things. 

Later we met up with everyone at the Trevi Fountain, drank red wine, ate good food, and laughed a lot. 

After that we headed back to the apartment to rest up. It was a great day wandering around seeing the sights. 

I have always loved history, art and architecture in particular. Being here is special to me for those reasons and also to have new experiences. I am falling in love with this place!