Pantheon and Pizza
The Roman Metro is really something of a marvel. I thought I had seen it all while dangling like Tarzan in NYC metros and Mexico City Metros. Both have rush hours, both are full of frenzied people and unsure tourists. Neither beat Roman metro rush hour.
We headed out in the pouring rain determined to see the Pantheon and get some good pizza for lunch.
In case you were wondering, yes, there is bad pizza in Italy. Some even terrible.
Off we went to the metro. My mom taught me how to fend for myself, push and shove my way around to get in metros, then how to stand like a surfer so that I avoided toppling over. I felt pretty comfortable till I hit Roman metro hour. We descended down the escalator into a hole that went forever. We got our tickets and made our way to the right stop.
The metro lights flashed and the train squeezed full with people stopped in front of us. We looked at each other, realized there was only one thing to do: push in.
And in we went shoving and squeezing between smelly, sweaty, reeking bodies (thanks rain). Social psychology, American, says that two feet is an intimate zone. Metro size shrinks that space to nothing. Well, we were all cheek to cheek, bum to bum, foot to foot and there was no space left.
Then, just as the metro beeped that it was closing its doors a tourist group of hundreds of Chinese tourists tsunamied down the stairs. Their fearless tour-guide stuck her little umbrella in the air to show she was diving in. In they came. If we were squished any closer we could have exchanged organs. We were like play dough. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Sardines in a can traveled first class in comparison to us. We were so squished it was painful. The smell didn't bother me anymore and I am sure plenty of people farted as the air was punched out of them and their bodies morphed and twisted allowing other humans to intertwine with them. The ride was bad and painful. Every turn of the train had the pressure of other bodies heave on each other without control.
Needless to say I was relieved to be vomited out of the metro and back into the cold howling rain.
That sounds like Jonah and the whale, well it was sort of like being in the belly of a whale. We were happy to find a water fountain to get a break before heading down to the Pantheon.
Now, for the Pantheon. This amazing structure was commissioned to be built in 132 AD by Caesar Hadrian.
Each Caesar tried to out perform the previous ones by building something outstanding that would last for eternity so they could be remembered by it. For example, check out how the Roman Empire expanded over the years: These murals were hung during the Fascist era (1920-1940's) to demonstrate how cool Italian are...in layman's terms.
Hadrian, who has the same birthday as one of my awesome cousins, decided to build a few things: one of them was Hadrian's wall in the UK that is 73 miles long and another was the Pantheon right in the middle of Rome. This video from there website is great. So Hadrian had his slaves and engineers chip and mold block after block of perfect marble till they created the perfect cylinder and open dome of the Pantheon. This building is so perfect in each angle that Michelangelo said it must have been built by angels and not man. When Hadrian built it, he intended for it to be a sacred church for seven gods linked to the worship of planets: the sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Mars. It was considered sacred so it was forbidden to everyone except priests.
Then in the 7th century the Pope decided to convert the building to be a temple to the Virgin Mary. Architects added a few bells on the outside but mainly left it intact. Till this day it remains intact with the only light being natural light from the oculus at the top (the big whole).
The Oculus is meant practically to let light enter, but it symbolized the direction the gods came from.
Personally, I like to think that Heaven isn't in the Milky Way, rather it is more like cloud computing where each user gets their heaven. The final place, for me, is a combination of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory (in pink), the Florida Keys and Cremona. That is just one person's wish though.
After we left the Pantheon, my feet were pretty much soaked again but I didn't care. I had one thing in mind: perfect pizza. Off we trotted in the direction of PizzaRè wondering if it still existed. Here is what we walked by on the long pilgrimage to find the perfect pizza:
The last time we were in Rome, quite a few years back, we went to PizzaRe and it was amazing. One thing I have learned while traveling is to frequent the same restaurants if they are amazing and don't try foreign food in a country that is not its own. My first trip to Rome, when I was 18 was disastrous. Mainly because I ate a burger in a Korean restaurant that gave me the runs and vomit. My group wanted to go so I ordered the only thing I recognized: le burger. Fancy. I know. The day we went to the Vatican I was so sick and the Vatican does not have public restrooms. May the Pope forgive me but I hurled out of a tiny window in the Vatican and nearly fainted from it. This time, 12 years later, we ate at a Chinese buffet with friends and I went hesitantly remembering when I couldn't find a bathroom to vomit in the Vatican. Predictably I got violently sick again. So my lesson is when in Rome, eat the Roman food they know how to cook and stick to good restaurants when you meet them and avoid foreign foods that your digestive system won't recognize.
We got a bit lost finding PizzaRè again.
We finally found our favorite pizzeria and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We headed out in the pouring rain determined to see the Pantheon and get some good pizza for lunch.
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| Rain on Via Sacra |
In case you were wondering, yes, there is bad pizza in Italy. Some even terrible.
Off we went to the metro. My mom taught me how to fend for myself, push and shove my way around to get in metros, then how to stand like a surfer so that I avoided toppling over. I felt pretty comfortable till I hit Roman metro hour. We descended down the escalator into a hole that went forever. We got our tickets and made our way to the right stop.
 |
| Billy Currington's song "Thank God for good directions and turnip greens" is the song for this day. |
The metro lights flashed and the train squeezed full with people stopped in front of us. We looked at each other, realized there was only one thing to do: push in.
 |
| In we go! |
And in we went shoving and squeezing between smelly, sweaty, reeking bodies (thanks rain). Social psychology, American, says that two feet is an intimate zone. Metro size shrinks that space to nothing. Well, we were all cheek to cheek, bum to bum, foot to foot and there was no space left.
Then, just as the metro beeped that it was closing its doors a tourist group of hundreds of Chinese tourists tsunamied down the stairs. Their fearless tour-guide stuck her little umbrella in the air to show she was diving in. In they came. If we were squished any closer we could have exchanged organs. We were like play dough. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Sardines in a can traveled first class in comparison to us. We were so squished it was painful. The smell didn't bother me anymore and I am sure plenty of people farted as the air was punched out of them and their bodies morphed and twisted allowing other humans to intertwine with them. The ride was bad and painful. Every turn of the train had the pressure of other bodies heave on each other without control.
Needless to say I was relieved to be vomited out of the metro and back into the cold howling rain.
 |
| Past the womans fuzzy face you can see the packed metro. |
 |
| I really enjoy looking at street art. Does this one say "Blaked the dirty Yorker?" I think it does! ha! |
That sounds like Jonah and the whale, well it was sort of like being in the belly of a whale. We were happy to find a water fountain to get a break before heading down to the Pantheon.
 |
| Even the rain looks pretty in Rome. Rome-ance! |
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| Walking in the rain in Rome. |
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| Drenched Pumas but dry feet! They are the best travel shoes. I bet I've put at least 100 miles on them. |
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| Aqua! I needed a fresh drink after the crazy metro ride! |
Now, for the Pantheon. This amazing structure was commissioned to be built in 132 AD by Caesar Hadrian.
Each Caesar tried to out perform the previous ones by building something outstanding that would last for eternity so they could be remembered by it. For example, check out how the Roman Empire expanded over the years: These murals were hung during the Fascist era (1920-1940's) to demonstrate how cool Italian are...in layman's terms.
 |
| Little tiny Rome |
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| Medium Rome |
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| Large Rome |
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| Super SIZE ROME!!!! |
Hadrian, who has the same birthday as one of my awesome cousins, decided to build a few things: one of them was Hadrian's wall in the UK that is 73 miles long and another was the Pantheon right in the middle of Rome. This video from there website is great. So Hadrian had his slaves and engineers chip and mold block after block of perfect marble till they created the perfect cylinder and open dome of the Pantheon. This building is so perfect in each angle that Michelangelo said it must have been built by angels and not man. When Hadrian built it, he intended for it to be a sacred church for seven gods linked to the worship of planets: the sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Mars. It was considered sacred so it was forbidden to everyone except priests.
Then in the 7th century the Pope decided to convert the building to be a temple to the Virgin Mary. Architects added a few bells on the outside but mainly left it intact. Till this day it remains intact with the only light being natural light from the oculus at the top (the big whole).
 |
| The oculus |
 |
| half a heart |
The Oculus is meant practically to let light enter, but it symbolized the direction the gods came from.
 |
| Rain on the floor of the Pantheon. The oculus is totally open. |
 |
| A guard in front of the grave of the the last great king of Italy. King...wait for it...Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso. |
Personally, I like to think that Heaven isn't in the Milky Way, rather it is more like cloud computing where each user gets their heaven. The final place, for me, is a combination of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory (in pink), the Florida Keys and Cremona. That is just one person's wish though.
After we left the Pantheon, my feet were pretty much soaked again but I didn't care. I had one thing in mind: perfect pizza. Off we trotted in the direction of PizzaRè wondering if it still existed. Here is what we walked by on the long pilgrimage to find the perfect pizza:
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| Rome from the top. |
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| The police car. Police in Italy are so nice in comparison to American police. These Italian ones know the law is on their side and don't use brute force to show they are in control or talk in a demeaning way. Nice. |
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| Passing a restaurant |
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| Mopeds |
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| The lasagna of history. How many layers of history do you see? I see 4. |
The last time we were in Rome, quite a few years back, we went to PizzaRe and it was amazing. One thing I have learned while traveling is to frequent the same restaurants if they are amazing and don't try foreign food in a country that is not its own. My first trip to Rome, when I was 18 was disastrous. Mainly because I ate a burger in a Korean restaurant that gave me the runs and vomit. My group wanted to go so I ordered the only thing I recognized: le burger. Fancy. I know. The day we went to the Vatican I was so sick and the Vatican does not have public restrooms. May the Pope forgive me but I hurled out of a tiny window in the Vatican and nearly fainted from it. This time, 12 years later, we ate at a Chinese buffet with friends and I went hesitantly remembering when I couldn't find a bathroom to vomit in the Vatican. Predictably I got violently sick again. So my lesson is when in Rome, eat the Roman food they know how to cook and stick to good restaurants when you meet them and avoid foreign foods that your digestive system won't recognize.
We got a bit lost finding PizzaRè again.
 |
| While we were wandering looking for the pizza we walked past this. I wouldn't want to sleep there at night! |
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| There was no in-between. My first slice was 90 percent of the pizza. I was starved! |
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| The End |
I've missed reading your blog! It's beautiful pictures, funny moments, and history lessons all mixed together! :)
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