Birthday Weekend 2012 Part II

 So after the Trevi Fountain we walked over to the Pantheon. It is amazing but if you want to know the history of it you will have to look it up. All I will say is that it is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Inside there is an oculus which is a big open hole in the top of the dome. It is also the only source of light in the building. 

            It is massive and ancient and so hard to believe that it has been there since 126 A.D.

                        It is a catholic church and is still used today for important celebrations.

                                                                        Beautiful

 It is right there in the middle of town surrounded by regular buildings with people just walking past it every day like it wasn't even special.

                                                         The Fontana del Pantheon.

 These fake Roman guys are there for I don't know what. Atmosphere? Are they just guys working the crowd?  I don't know but we could have done without them.

            You can take a carriage ride but I think a chariot ride would have been better.

                                                                     A little dark.

                         I wish you could have seen the inside of the Pantheon. It is just beautiful.

 It is a sacred place so they would like people to be quiet, which remarkably people are.

 I wish you could see these in color and good light. My camera doesn't do well in the dark.

 After the Pantheon we went back to the hotel and got ready for the main event. The Food. The Birthday Dinner. The truffle extravaganza. So we get dressed for our dinner and take a cab to this little restaurant and were seated.

 These were my appetizers. The one at the upper right is a stuffed zucchini flower. The others are something delicious although I can't remember exactly what they were. Oh and yes the stuffed flower was so delicious Lauren and Liz ordered more for themselves.

                                     And there is my wine that goes with my appetizers.

 This is my pasta course I believe. The one on the left is gnocchi and the one on the right is a pasta with maybe pesto. I can't be sure.

 This is Lauren's plate.  Did I mention the bread?  It was delicious, there were several different kinds and the waiter described each one to us. The little plates are filled with olive oil. You can dip your bread or spoon some over your food.

 One of these is rabbit and the other I think is pork. Again I can't be positive.

 And of course this is the dessert. It was so good but we were so full. I ate mine but I wish I could have taken it back to the hotel because I was so full.

 Chocolate, fresh berries, pastry, and see that candle? They sang me a little song. It was called Happy Birthday!!! to me. and it was.

                      Thank you Lauren. And Liz. It was wonderful and I will never forget it.

 It was charming and the staff were so nice. We had a waiter and the wine guy, whatever he is called. The sommelier. They were very attentive. We each received a bottle of wine to take home. I still have mine.

                                                     The waiter took the photo for us.

            I think this was after we were done. Right before they had to roll us out to the cab.

                                                                  The restaurant.

                        Monkey stayed in the room. He had a headache and didn't feel like eating. He had                                            some soda and watched TV but went to sleep because his Italian is a little bit bad.
Next up.....Anguillara.