The Pantheon Death March

Current State: Great shoes....bad blisters

Travel Words to Live by: When it comes to guide books, all that glitters is not gold. 

Rome!! Say it with me...'Rome!" While I was sad to leave London it was a true joy to arrive in Rome. However, true to form, within minutes we had a cab driver who didn't understand us(or pretended not to) and drove like a bat out of hell all the way into the city leaving (margarita asked me about nine times if I had my seatbelt on). He then tried to ransom Margarita (the Italian version of Margaeux aka Margaret) for our bags. She set him straight with a 'well they're goes his tip' statement and we were off. Needless to say, she had everything under control. 

Our hotel is a 115 year old building which previous to that was a monastery. It is a true decorative marvel. Every inch of every service is literally covered with marble, paint, glass, etc. 

The next morning we started off on what promised to be one of the '24 Great Walks of Rome". Little did I know, Margarita had previously altered the route to include several other locations along the way adding in about an extra oh um, 3 MILES  to the route. 

In a single afternoon, all by foot, we saw the spanish steps, most of the shops around them, the Trevi fountain, The Pantheon, the column of Marcus Aurelius, and the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (oh yeah throw in there about a handful of obscure twists and turns which margarita claimed were in the right direction but some how required us to turn back around and walk another half mile in the same direction to 'complete the route'). 

In any event, we had a lovely dinner at El Nino. This was shortly after margarita jokingly tried to set me up with my hotel stalker John Lucas who wanted to go out with us after dinner. She set him straight initially but he seems to be a growing problem. 

Today, we ventured to the Borghese Gallery. While this seemed to be another outlet of Italian Fascism given their strict policies on everything from coats, bags, water, entrance and exit times, entrances, stair ways, directs of flow of traffic, etc....it truly was an amazing experience. 

In route to the Ara Pacis museum, Margarita and I got a bit distracted in the Prada store and sadly never made it to our last destination. Tomorrow is another day.

Best, Lauren