We started the day with a coffee, fresh orange juice and croissants at Bar Gastronomia Twins right across the road from our apartment.
Mark had booked tickets to the Pantheon between 9am and 10am and it was a good 30 minute walk to get there. They have only very recently instigated a payment system but as we had tickets we could avoid the big queues and walk straight in.
We had a good look around inside. The Pantheon is a former Roman Temple and a since 609AD, a Catholic Church. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.
Everything we had read said we needed to be covered so we had worn appropriate clothing but there were plenty of people with shoulders and/or knees exposed.
We continued on past the Italian Senate and onto Piazza Navona which is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian (built in the 1stC AD) hence the shape and size of it which has been preserved. It is a good example of Baroque architecture and contains three fountains.
Onto the Boss store for Mark to have a look around and get a few shirts. It was time for a coffee and gelato break – we were keen to try somewhere else but the kids wanted to go to the same place as last night so we took a seat and enjoyed a break and some coffee and gelato.
We walked down Via di Corso to the Altar of the Fatherland (also known as the Wedding Cake monument) which is a monument to honor the first king of the united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. We walked the steps to the entrance of the museum. After looking around we took the elevator to the roof for some great views over Rome.
It was another hot day in Rome, 31° which is lovely when you’re by the pool or at the beach but not quite so pleasant for city sightseeing. Everyone was hot and tired so we walked back to the apartment and collected some sandwiches along the way before taking a rest.
Later, Mark took TJ to a football match – Lazio v Torino at Stadio Olimpico, a good hour or more on the train away. They loved the game and the atmosphere was electric. Lazio won 2-0 so they were happy about that. It was a long ride home as the metro was closed for maintenance so they had to get a bus.
The girls and I headed back to the Spanish Steps to take another walk along Via Del Corso as there were a couple of shops they wanted to go back to. However when we came out of the metro station at Spagna there were crowds of people and lots of cheering going on so we went to see what was happening. We finally worked out it was the US and European Ryder Cup (golf for those that don’t know) teams with WAGS and hanger ons. It was very hard to see but eventually we managed to get close enough that if we held our phones up high enough we could see them or catch glimpses through the sea of people. Sophia was very excited to see them all. We moved positions and then saw some barriers where they were clearly going to walk down and we managed to bag a spot right at the front. The teams and WAGS all walked down to where they must have been going for drinks and dinner but we got nice and close.
By the time that was over the shops were all closed so we walked to the Trevi Fountain for a night time viewing and got ourselves a gelato. We went to a pizzeria but they sat us in a back room all by ourselves so we just left and decided to walk home and find somewhere closer to home.
By the time we got there, Sophia wasn’t hungry so we just got Greer a slice of pizza and picked up some drinks at the supermarket before heading home to bed.