The legend of the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) says you should stand with your back to the fountain and toss a coin over your left shoulder to guarantee a return trip to Rome. Apparently, more than 1 million euros are collected from the fountain every year. We didn’t get to perform the tradition as it was closed for refurbishment. But I guess we will return someday anyway.

Also in the area is the Pantheon - which is probably the oldest intact building we’ve seen on this trip. Once a pagan Roman temple, it was converted a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs since the 7th century. I remember looking at the oculus, which is really a gigantic hole in the roof and wondering how the building survived the rain all these years, forgetting that rain in the Mediterranean is quite a different concept from rain in the tropics.

I left thinking that it must be quite mind-blowing for the residents in the area to be living next to something dating back to BC.

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