He insisted on wheeling our luggage and had us follow him from the terminal, across the street to a parking garage where a black Mercedes E Class waited. He didn't speak much English and our Italian only works in Hotels or restaurants so we didn't chat much on the 40 minute drive into the heart of Rome. I was busy shooting video and taking photos from the car anyway.
Soon we were in the tight narrow streets near the Pantheon. Our driver dropped us off at our home for the next two days-Albergo del Senato (Albergo is the Italian word for Hotel so you will see it a lot in Italy) After a warm "welcome back" we were escorted up to our room and looking out the window we saw this...
While Carol did her Traditional "Immediate unpacking of the suitcase" I went down into the square known as Piazza Della Rotonda to take some photos.
That is our hotel across the square
The Pantheon draws a crowd. You don't need tickets-just walk right in as long as there isn't a religious service taking place. It opens at 9 am. It has been standing here in it's present form since 126 A.D and is lit within by the sun shining through a large circular hole in the roof. The rain that comes in falls into a circular drain on the floor, 142 feet below.
Our room is on the third floor with windows looking forward to the Pantheon and to the side onto a narrow street filled with hotels and cafes.
We allowed ourselves a 90 minute nap, a short sleep to take some of the "sting" out of being jet-lagged now that our watches were 6 hours ahead of our bodies which thought we should be asleep in Chicago. Heavy metal shutters and thick curtains on our windows kept out the noise of the crowd and the bands playing in the square below.
Once awake and showered we were in need of coffee to help keep us awake through the day. On our previous visit our Rome in Limo driver, Franco, has recommended his favorite coffee shop. At the time it had lines of people waiting to get in so we didn't visit it. This time would be different as we were coming in the early afternoon, not the morning. We were lucky to get a table outside where we could watch Rome go by and enjoy the perfect weather and the perfect coffee.
The coffee costs more outside as you are paying for waitress service and the table but for us it is worth it. Here we can relax and enjoy the fresh air. I am drinking espresso doppio-double espresso and I had two of those while we sat- 4 espressos so I became wide awake! As you can see it was OK to smoke at the table.
Cafe Sant Eustachio
Our view
After an hour or so it was time to move along as Carol wanted to see some churches nearby.
Looking back to Sant Eustachio square
Lunch al fresco-but not for us. Our first meal would be dinner, much later.
The rear side of the Pantheon
Minerva Square
You can see the Pantheon dome in this shot and see we didn't have far to walk to visit our first church
We step into the church of Santa Maria Sopra which dates from 1370 A.D
Back outside and onward to our next (and last) church.
Here's a video to bring you up to date on our day so far. It begins in the car driving past the walls of the Vatican....
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