We tried to get up and going early, which really didn't happen, but we tried. That's worth something, right?
Anyway, after breakfast we hopped the metro to the Coliseum and from there slowly walked our way to the Pantheon. Although not nearly as grandiose as some of the other sites I still think the Pantheon was one of the most amazing. Its an engineering marvel built almost 2000 years ago and certainly is the best preserved of all the ancient Roman buildings. It has a massive, unsupported Dome with a giant opening in the center (the Occulus). The dome is made entirely of concrete. As the ancient Romans began building it they realized that the dome would be too heavy and collapse on itself, so they started etched out boxes on the inside of the dome to remove material and make the dome lighter. As they continued upward to the unsupported center they realized the dome was still too heavy, so that started adding small hollow pottery pieces to the mix to make the concrete even lighter.
After the Pantheon we just sort-of wandered the city for the rest of the day. We had good information on the best cappuccino in Rome and the best Gellato, so we decided to try both. The Cappuccino was amazing, but the Gellato was so good that I got two cones - I know, my poor pancreas. The dark chocolate Gellato has bits of really good dark chocolate in it, and the blackberry was to die-for.
After the Gellato we walked up to a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit that had working models of many of his inventions. I wish that the exhibit had been larger and slightly more interactive, but in all it was a very nice "last event" for our trip.
That's pretty much the end of the exciting part of the trip. From there we headed to the airport and endured the 36 hours of travel to get home. Sleeping in my own bed last night was the best thing ever!
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