Pizza and Pantheon

It feels like weeks since I landed in Rome, but it's actually only been 5 days. As I said, after the dramas that I encountered while getting from the train terminal to my hotel I had decided that I didn't want to leave the hotel unless it was on fire, and even then it might be safer than the streets!

As chance would have it my beautiful sister was in Rome for work this week, so I had to leave the hotel. But only after a long, hot shower and a change of clothes. Georgia lived in Rome until 3 months ago, so it was like having my own guide! She picked my up from my hotel that evening and we first had a wander of Piazza Navona which was only a stones throw from the hotel.

Two of the fountains in Piazza Navona

And then it was time to find somewhere for dinner and try my first Italian pizza! We ate at Pasquino, and the view was such that this was staring me in the face while I ate... (like I don't see enough anatomy at work, now I have to look at it while I eat!):

Anyway, on to the food! We started with Flor de Zucca (battered zucchini blossoms stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies). Yum!

Look at the food, not the tired one eating it!

And then on to mains. Of course I had to order pizza for my first meal in Italy. It'd be rude not to! And Georgia got pasta. Both were very good. Then to walk off dinner we headed to the Pantheon. This was one of the top things on my to-do list and I wasn't disappointed. Because we were there at night we couldn't go inside (I did that later), but the outside blew me away. You expect imposing monuments like that to be somewhere out on their own, not tucked away in a square surrounded by shops and cafes and apartments.

Check out how small the people look!

And that was the end of the day. It was excellent to have Georgia there to help me regain my confidence and get over my initial jitters (and obviously it was just awesome to have her there anyway!). I went back to the hotel and slept like the dead!

Next up... Going solo in Rome