Roma (part II)

The second day, we got lost in the morning and spent an hour or so wandering around a fairly ropey area near the train station. It became apparent to me that Italian men really have no idea of what is decent conduct around women, particularly those in couples. There was one point where Naomi strayed perhaps five feet from me, and two or three men in their twenties immediately started whistling and making what I assume to be sleazy remarks. Plus there is no holding them back when it comes to staring at a woman's breasts. They don't even seem to be aware that perhaps that isn't appropriate where a woman quite clearly isn't single. I'm a pretty protective, so all of this annoyed me a fair bit.

Once we got back on track and out of the crap area of Rome, we started to make our way across the city to take in some of its wonderful sights/sites. Naomi's Lonely Planet book had a suggested route that allowed us to take in many of the most notable attractions in one journey. As we walked down a little winding alleyway, we emerged into the square that held the Treviso Fountain. The sunny weather combined with the whiteness of the statues and the clarity of the water gave the whole scene an amazing silvery appearance. There were crowds and crowds of people there to enjoy the vast fountain, and some people asked us to take photos of them and reciprocated with our cameras. There was also an oriental couple having wedding photos in front of the fountain. After a few minutes we went on to the Pantheon. It's not often you see a circular church (in this case not entirely by design, as the building had undergone a pagan->Christian overhaul at some point). Again, it was a big draw for tourists. We stopped for lunch (more excellent pizza) at a restaurant on the square next to the Pantheon, directly next to a well-disguised McDonald's with pretty outdoor parasols and seating. They weren't quite so successful in disguising the smell of McDonald's food.

After lunch we went on to see more of central Rome, enjoying ice cream and coffee along the way. Later in the afternoon we went to the Spanish Steps (that's where the photo of Naomi on the previous post was taken), popping into a wonderful little specialist glove shop on the way. We went into the church at the top of the Steps to see the Caravaggio paintings inside, then emerged out into the balmy dusk air, to sit and enjoy the encroaching evening. Sellers of plastic roses flocked to try and persuade lovers to part with their money, below.

That evening we returned to the restaurant of the previous evening, Ristorante Unicum. It doesn't appear on the internet at all, I've discovered, but if anyone's interested, it's between Via Cavour and Via Liberiana, on what I think must be Via di Santa Maria Maggiore. This time we arrived before the pianist started (which was again fun), and we ordered starters followed by a huge fish (I can't remember the name of it for the life of me!) with spicy tomato and mussels. We were given several flaming Sambuccas at the end of the meal, which rounded off a really great holiday nicely, and guaranteed the waiter a good tip! I think we'll be back there again, one day.