Tonight I took the walking tour mentioned in the last post, and tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain for a special intention. One of my tour group friends slipped on the wet surface when he tossed in his coin and sat down hard on the wet edge of the fountain. Did he get sympathy? Not on your Nelly. His wife, who had been capturing the moment on film, said she just wished she had had the video setting on. An older Italian man who saw the incident laughed hysterically, and kept repeating, "You're supposed to throw in the money, not yourself!" Clearly he was very cheered by this little slip.
It is actually forbidden to touch the water, never mind throw yourself in, and our serious guide informed us that the ill-fated Anna Nicole Smith spent 3 days in jail here after flouting this law.
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| Pantheon |
I loved the Pantheon. I love that it has been upgraded from a pantheistic church honoring the top twelve deities of the Roman heavens to a Christian church honoring the top 12 Martyrs. I love that when it rains through the open roof of this rotunda, a system devised 18 centuries ago sucks out the water from the sloping floor and a series of pipes delivers it to the Tiber where it will do no harm. I love that Trajan built it for himself to convince others that he was probably immortal, after copying the idea from a similar tribute built to Alexander the Great.
And I love that Rafael is entombed in the Pantheon, the only artist of his stature to be so honored simply because he came from the right school of painting. Sort of a trade union thing.
It is impossible to plumb the delights of Rome in one day, but I did my best. Assisi and the crazy little saint I love so much tomorrow.
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