Pantheon Monday

I didn't make it to the restaurant I wanted last night because it was closed. I ended up at a different one and tried the spaghetti carbonara. It was ok, but not very exciting. I don't think it was a very good quality one.

This morning, for breakfast, I got a slice of pizza to go from a 9lace just across the road. I got garlic and rosemary potato pizza, just like mum makes! It was really nice, they sure make good pizza bases here. Then I went and caught the subway back to the Trevi fountain area. I had a good walk around and managed to find the gelato shop I couldn't find yesterday. Good reason I couldn't find it, for such an acclaimed place, it barely had a sign outside, just a single door and a tiny sign. Not what I was expecting. Anyway, I was to early, it didn't open until 12, so I went and hung out by the fountain some more, and then walked to the pantheon.

The pantheon was really cool. It's the biggest reinforced concrete dome in the world, and parts of it date back to 2, 000 years ago! For real. It has these huge pillars outside and inside is a big dome with a hole at the top to let light in. It used to be a church to the ancient Roman gods, but about 500 years after it was built, the Roman Catholics took it over and made it for them. It's lucky they did, because a lot of the buildings they didn't take over got destroyed. The pantheon is really very cool! I had a walk around the dome, and then just sat in the pews for ages. The space was so huge, and it's low season for tourists, so it wasn't too crowded at all.

After all that, it was about 12.30, so I went to get some gelato! I chose just simple chocolate flavour, because a lot of the rest were sorbet, and I don't go a bunch on fruity ice cream. It was such good ice cream! It was like really good quality chocolate mousse turned into gelato. Thick, but also light, and the texture was so smooth. I enjoyed it a lot. Then, I was still hungry, so I went to a restaurant for lunch. I finally had some gnocchi! It wasmy 3rd pasta dish here, and while it was pleasant, I'm starting to see a pattern. None of the dishes I've had so far have any real distinguishing flavours. Theye are nice, but ma tad bland and tasted the same the whole way through. Mum, your gnocchi, ravioli, and carbonara are nicer than what I've tried here! I've a suspicion that is probably because I'm eating in tourist areas, though.

It's a bit difficult not to eat in tourist areas when you are a tourist! So, tomorrow I've booked a walking tour of a district of Rome, and the focus is on trying a whole bunch of good food! I have high hopes for this and am really looking forward to it. Tonight I'm going back to try the restaurant I wanted to go to yesterday. I'm not very hungry, and I saw they are serving prosciutto melone, which is prosciutto wrapped around melon pieces. I've read it's good, so I'll go try it.

Ok, off to get some of that now!