We had to get up early! Oh my word. A 7am flight meant a 5am start so we’d booked the Sofitel again (getting to be a habit!) and checked in last night. We set our alarm for 4.30 and simply got up and went straight over to the terminal as everything was opening up.

It was just a two hour flight to Rome, where we landed in glorious sunshine. Why was I surprised to see the sea?

It was about a 45 minute drive to the city and our hotel and the Saturday lunchtime traffic made it pretty slow going for most of the way. I found it interesting to notice small details on the buildings as we passed. We are in Italy!

Our room wasn’t ready and with no plans made for the afternoon, I was keen not to waste a moment hanging around an hotel for who knows how long. So, we fiddled about with the Rome2Rio app on my phone, picked out the Pantheon as a reasonable destination and looked to see how to get there. Easy peasy - a bus went from the foot of a flight of steps near the hotel and the stop was a short walk from the Pantheon at the other end. Let’s do it.

Except…

We needed bus tickets. Where might we buy them around here? A question directed to the hotel concierge produced a collective sucking of cheeks and shakes of the head from him and his colleagues, who did not recommend the bus under any circumstances. What?! Come on…. Well, if I insisted, there was a small kiosk by the steps and we could buy tickets there. If I didn’t return, he promised to send a search party.

Well, just look here! Four bus tickets (one each, there and back). So far so good.

One bus stop, with the number 63 right there on it. Ok, so the family Public Transport professional (Emeritus!) did comment that in modern European cities one might expect real time information on the stop with advice about when the next one will arrive, but the sun was shining and we were here. What’s not to like?

Five minutes later, look! Perfectly civilised human beings travelling together on a bus!! Good grief!

OK, so two of them (us!) might have missed their intended stop, in spite of counting and supposedly following the map. But it didn’t matter. We spotted that we were in a large square and thought we’d hop off quickly and see where we were, get our bearings and take it from there. We had Google Maps and all of that on our phone after all.

Then we turned around and noticed where we were: In the huge Piazza del Venezia, site of the “wedding cake” monument to Vittorio Emanuele II For a moment, I was reminded of when we’d done something similar on a free afternoon in Beijing . We’d set off with no real aim and found ourselves standing in front of a landmark “just like that”.

On that occasion, I believe I might have shed a tear. This afternoon, we took a selfie to send to the family and I muttered that I’d not brought my “real” camera out with me, but had to rely on my phone. Anyway, we stood a while and took in the sights - the Colosseum back there in the distance, too.

From there, we made our way through narrow streets with cobbles that were incredibly hard to walk on, especially when, like me, you want to gaze up at the fabulous palette of colours that made up these streets. Shabby chic, for sure…nothing pristine or in perfect order, but a bit rough around the edges all round.

We stumbled upon the Via del Pie di Marmo - Marble Foot Street - and seemed to be heading in the same direction as everyone else. Clearly we were not the only ones who’d thought to visit the Pantheon this afternoon.

Bigger and much better preserved than we’d remembered, we stood and marvelled for a while. To think it was built some 2000 years ago and remains standing, as impressive as ever. Sadly, we couldn’t go inside - bookings only and all slots taken. Oh dear…

We peered inside though the open door and wondered what we were missing. There was just one thing that might cheer us up….

We sat with our Pistachio and Coffee, Zabaglione and Tiramisu and watched the people go by. Sat as the couple came and unlocked the Vespa scooter parked beside us, watched him put on his helmet and start the engine and then wait for her to pull her helmet from under the seat and hop on behind him. Whooosh, they were gone.

And yes, we marvelled at those teeny, skinny bricks that were so finely laid to create arches and exquisite structure in that 2000 year old building just there on the other side of the street.

Because really, we didn’t want to make our way back through that melee of people croammed into the square around the fountain!

We did, of course. We successfully found our way back to the bus stop, safely travelled back on the #63 bus back to where we’d started and a weary pair made their way back up the steps to the hotel, where thankfully, our room was ready and waiting.

Tomorrow, our suitcases have to be outside our door at 7am, we need to present ourselves in the foyer at 11.30. Let the next stage of our adventure begin!