Back to Rome Day 2

Friday 5th June 2026

We took a tour of the Pantheon this morning. It is yet another amazing ancient structure. It is difficult to describe the overwhelming experiences that this city offers at almost every step and I took about 20,000 of them today.

The Pantheon is a 2nd century Roman temple but has been operating as a church for the last 1400 years, the Basilica of St Mary and the Martyrs. Services are still conducted there. It has served as the burial place for Italian royalty and the Renaissance artist Raphael. The massive granite columns at the entrance were shipped from Egypt. The external walls are a red brick and the crowning glory is the dome. It is the largest in Rome and remains the largest unsupported concrete dome ever constructed. It has a 9 mt wide opening at the top, providing the light source for the building, but also allows for the rain to pour in. Drainage was incorporated into the marble floor as part of the original design. The internal walls were decorated with marble and granite.

We left the Pantheon to the hordes of tourists and explored the area until we found the Rinascente department store. We went in search of a Roman aqueduct recently uncovered whilst renovations were being undertaken to enlarge the store. They have revealed a very long section of the aqueduct that is approximately 5 metres tall. Banks of data projectors screen a light show every 5 minutes to outline the various sections of the archeological dig and the flow of water. What a great gem to uncover with the added bonus of having the whole display to ourselves. We checked out the different floors of the store. So many stylish things to admire and then we found the top floor, it’s equivalent to a food hall but includes many restaurants. We dined at Maio on the covered terrace with views all over Rome. To top it off I got to enjoy a deliciously fresh salad.

Fortunately, my lunch was light enough so as not to spoil my appetite for our evening food tour of the Trastevere district.  We met with our guide Gisella at 6:30 and she was quick to point out that her day job is acting. She made a wonderful guide with just the right amount of theatrics. We dined on deep fried artichoke, pork stew, suppli (Roman arancini balls), porchetta, pizza (both Roman and Napoli style), 2 pasta dishes and gelato. All whilst strolling the back streets, narrow laneways and busy piazzas and sampling some excellent prosecco, beer, bianco and rosso vino as we went. What a brilliant way to spend 4 hours.

An unexpected bonus was an understanding of how Jewish cooking influenced local cuisine. They introduced deep drying in oil so that even the poor old Artichoke became a favourite. The Pope, at the time, was not so impressed and locked them up in a ghetto. Nonetheless, good food is a great leveller, and Romans today enjoy Jewish cooking.