Episode Five: Is it okay if we walk through the Rose Garden?

So we arrived at our Hotel in Rome at about 8 AM our time and, after a lovely snack of croissants and cappuccino on the patio overlooking the courtyard of our hotel, we did the unthinkable: We slept for a couple hours! I know, you're supposed to stay up to adjust to the Circadian rhythm of your new locale. But, frankly, we were exhausted! I'm not a good on-the-plane sleeper, and Wendy had pulled an all-niter to finish something for work (a budget I think) and  to pack. So sleep was needed!

After a couple of hours, we emerged from our room refreshed and ready to explore. It's a good thing that Wendy had several detailed maps and has a keen sense of direction, because the Garmin GPS we brought along never did find a satellite to connect to. This was no surprise, this same GPS had in the past brought us to a suburban home and an exurban apartment building when asked to find a coffee house in the US.

Guided by Wendy, the Human GPS, we started carefully traversing the death-defying streets of Rome. the first thing we noticed was that every woman under 60 was wearing skin-tight leggings, whether it was a wide fashion decision or not. Call them tights, leotards, jeggings, slim-fits, whatever -- they were everywhere! And the men's apparel was equally distinctive: Shiny puffy coats (c'mon guys, it's a Mediterranean country, it's in the mid-50's), tight pants (but not as tight as the women's) often in reds or green, greasy long hair (peruke or ponytail optional) and scruffy stubble that had not seen a razor for at least a week.

Italian dude in red pants. Hew wasn't the only one.

We also realized that crossing the street meant taking your life in your hands! Rome is a huge, busy city, like New York. And there are precious few opportunities for crossing busy urban streets with the aid of a Walk signal. So we learned to wait until an Italian simply stepped in the street and - hoping that traffic would actually come to a screeching halt in time.- we would step right behind them. I kinda thought that the Smart cars were light enough that I would survive their impact. But the scooters and sleek motorcycles were fast and their drivers were reckless. So I was worried about them.

Hmm.This looks important.

Braving the traffic, we wandered a few blocks until we encountered a large white building with a spacious brick plaza in front of it ringed by police.Wendy's maps indicated there was a large lovely garden nearby. We found the entrance to the garden -- but there appeared to be a guard stationed in front of it. Wendy approached the man, asked if he spoke English, and - since he did (just barely) - asked if we could walk through the garden.

He indicated that no, we could not walk through the garden. Then he added "is President's Palace." Apparently what we had done was tantamount to walking up to a Marine on duty at the White House and asking if we could take a little stroll through the Rose Garden!

Somewhat chastened, we returned to the plaza in front of what we now knew was the Italian President's Palace, where people were gathered to watch ... well, we had no idea what they were gathered to watch! But then we heard the dulcet tones of a small but excellent marching band.

It turns out that it was time for a kind of changing of the guard at the palace, and the guys in sailor hats who were with the marching band were replacing guys with capes and berets. It was no changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, but it was cool nonetheless, and unexpected.

After ensuring that the guard had safely been changed, we continued on our orientation stroll. We walked the narrow cobblestone streets, dodging the occasional tiny Smart Car, Fiat or speeding scooter, and passing restaurants, clothing stores and Papal Supply Outlet Stores until clusterf*ck otherwise known as the Trevi Fountain.

I mean, it's a nice fountain and everything, but it was 10 deep in touristsas, all of whom needed to toss coins in the water and take each other's pictures. Chaotic and annoying! Apparently no one cared until "Three Coins In The Fountain" (1954); since then it;s been overrun with tourists. We took some obligatory Trevi Fountain pictures, skipped the whole coin tossing thing and made our way toward the Pantheon.

No, not the Parthenon - that's in Greece. The Pantheon, I learned, was a Roman temple built in 126 AD by Emperor Hadrian (we'd hear a lot about this dude in the coming days). It's incredibly well preserved -- mainly because it has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Catholic church. As the Interwebs say, "...almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest un-reinforced concrete dome."

We've all seen still pictures of the Pantheon dome. But it's not until you actually see it in person that you realize how huge it is.

After touring the Pantheon, we walked up Capitoline Hill(one of the Seven Hills of Rome, apparently) to look at a piazza designed by Michelangelo, a replica of  an equestrian statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and to enjoy a spectacular glorious view of the Roman Forum (more about that later). Then it was back home to rest and to have Wendy plan our Day at the Vatican!