The Pantheon is an 126 AD Roman temple which has been the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs Catholic Church since 609 Our trip began with a short flight on American Airlines from Kansas City to Chicago. After a little over 4 hours at O'Hare and lunch at Publican Tavern, we departed at 4;55 PM and arrived 9 hours later (about 9 AM Thursday) in Rome. Passing through EU Biometric Check-in (EES) took only a a few minutes and we soon picked our checked luggage. A taxi from the line outside the terminal is a flat €55 to the main part of Rome and the drive took maybe 45 minutes. As we neared the hotel, we saw many ancient ruins mixed with the other buildings of the city. Although is was before 10:30 AM, our room at the Abruzzi Hotel was already available. We had a corner room, immediately across from the Pantheon, with an unobstructed view of the Pantheon out one window and the Fontana del Pantheon out the other. In the photo above, our room is the one on the corner, two floors down from the top. The elevator did not start until one floor up and except for bringing the luggage in and out, we never used the elevator. The location was very handy, but partying in the square around Fontana del Pantheon kept things noisy until the wee hours.
After freshening up, we explored the immediate area and withdrew euros from our checking account at the BCC dei Castelli Romani e del Tuscolo, which had good reviews online. Their ATMs worked well, were open 24 hours and did not charge a fee. We used our bank card to unlock the door to the well lighted area where the machines were. Lunch was at Osteria del grillo, a short distance from our hotel. We shared bruschetta al Pomodor (toasted, garlic rubbed bread topped with diced fresh tomatoes, olive oil, basil, and salt), a polpette di melanzane (homemade eggplant meatballs) appetizer, and each had the lunch special of homemade pasta with shrimp and asparagus. I preferred the appetizer. The meal was fine, but one of my least favorite of the trip.
A little info on prices and meals. At the time the Euro was worth about $1.15. Prices on the menu (and everywhere else) include all taxes. They may include a service fee. Italy & Greece do not have a tipping culture like the US. Some people in these countries resent Americans coming and throwing around big tips. Some of the servers in the tourist areas are hoping for them. In any case, 10% is a big tip and other times, less or none is appropriate unless something special was done. Our total with a service fee, the built in tax and a bottle of still water (€3) was 46 euros and the amount charged the credit card was $54. We spent the day exploring the part of Rome west and south of our hotel, visiting several churches, Piazza Navona (with a Bernini fountain), Campo de' Fiori (fresh produce, spices, flowers & other items), tiny markets, and the Trevi Fountain. The famous fountain was surrounded with people several rows deep. For a small fee going to charity, you can get to a closer spot with people several rows deep to throw a coin over your shoulder to insure that you will come here again. We had gelato at Gelato in Trevi (one of many, many small places for gelato).
Along our walk, we happened across the Largo di Torre Argentina. It is a large area with the ruins of four Roman Republican temples and the remains of Pompey's Theatre. And also the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, a cat shelter which houses and offers adoption of about 350 cats. We would go on to see cats (and sometimes dogs) at virtually every ruins we visited in Italy and Greece.
Our supper was at Trattoria "Antonio," where we had deep fried seafood, grilled seafood and donuts, Carciofi alla Romana (Roman-style artichokes) with mascarpone cream cheese. The Carciofi alla Romana was braised with garlic, parsley, and mint, which was too minty for my taste. It was the only restaurant where the Carciofi alla Giudia (Jewish-style, deep-fried) was also offered during our visit and I wish I tried that instead.
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