There are so many 'must see' places in Rome that it really isn't worth repeating. Suffice is to say that the Trevi Fountain is on that list, along with the Pantheon, and so many more wonderful places.
Sue remembers being enchanted by the fountain, along with Rome, from a film she watched as a young girl. We all hoped that she wasn't going to be disappointed.
One bus and train later and we are in Piazza Barberini, with our map out. We headed in a direction that felt like South, of our position, with Sue quietly singing '3 pennies in a fountain' to herself. The smell of fresh coffee was trying to tempt us away from our goal on every corner but, it would have to wait, the fountain was calling.
I imagined the Trevi Fountain to be in a large open area, with traffic passing through a huge piazza in front of it. I really don't know where I got that image from because, it isn't so!
When we finally arrived, I felt that it was a bit hemmed in somehow. The grand Trevi should be in a setting that befits its scale I think. Needless to say, there were hundreds of people, taking photos, jockeying for position with only a 'selfie' in mind, throwing coins over their shoulders and making silent wishes. And, yes, we did exactly the same.
The up-side is that no one stays for more than fifteen minutes or so, the downside is that for every one person that leaves, two more arrive. We still manage to do the tourist thing without too much trouble though. And with that, we leave the tourist trap shops selling their souvenirs behind, and head for the Pantheon.
The Pantheon is literally a stones throw from the Trevi Fountain, if you can throw around corners that is. We've hardly recovered from the fountain when we arrive on it's doorstep.
Again, it's the scale of the place that hits you as you turn the corner. They really didn't build any discreet buildings, it would seem, two thousand years ago in Rome. It's free to enter the Pantheon building, which is rather nice but inevitably means that it gets a bit crowded. I can only imagine what it's like at the height of the tourist season.
Bizarrely, the scene stealer here appears to be the 'hole' in the roof which allows natural light into the building, equally bizarre is the reported fact that, in spite of the hole being nearly 8 metres in diameter, rain seldom enters through it and, if it does, the sloped floor of the Pantheon allows it to drain away.
It's yet another incredible place and I just wish that someone had thought of filming 'Grand Designs' two thousand years ago when the Pantheon was being built. Even Kevin McCloud would be lost for words I think.
How we sold up, quit our jobs and, what we are doing now.
