Papa and I went to the Pantheon first thing this morning. It is an amazing building, built between 14 BC and 24 AD, during the reign of Augustus, and its still standing with a perfect ceiling!
We crossed the river into Trastevere, and visited three churches. The first church, San Crisogono, had a gold encrusted ceiling and a mosaic floor. The second church, Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere, is known for its mosaic facade, but it was covered in cloth, so we didn't see it. The last church, Basilica of St. Cecelia, had beautiful mosaics above the pulpit from the 9th century, and a crypt below, housing a church built between 200 and 300 AD to honor a martyred woman, Cecelia. We had one of those OMG moments when we walked into the colorful columned room in the crypt.
We walked back across the Palatine Hill, by the Colosseum, and toward our hotel. While waiting for Papa to get cash at an ATM, music came closer and closer, and a parade of 50+ Local Filipino teenage girls, dressed in their finest, each with an entourage carrying banners, passed us. It was beautiful and so happy. We loved it! We had pasta for lunch, gelato for dessert, and went to the train station to buy our tickets for the Cinque Terre tomorrow. All good!
