MILWAUKEE-NYC-ITALY-GREECE AND A DAY IN LONDON BLOG POST SEVENTEEN

THREE HOURS IN ROME

You've only got three hours in Rome...no problem.
We were gifted a space of several hours between flights from Santorini to Rome and then Rome to London. We started by leaving Santorini on a Vueling Airlines hectic flight where the boarding was mayhem.

The saving grace was the quirky nature of the other travelers who were so interesting I totally forgot we'd paid for priority boarding only to get crushed by the crowd once they opened the gate.

We landed in Rome at seven in the evening and were staying at the airport Hilton thinking there wasn't enough time to drag our luggage all the way into the city proper and then have to drag them all the way back the next morning even though we weren't scheduled to leave Rome until five in the afternoon on the next day.

Both Emmy and Rick chose sleep and lunch at the hotel as their day's itinerary. I got up and caught the 8:30 Leonardo express into Rome Termini. I made it to the train which was located in the airport but still a good ten-minute dash from our hotel just as the doors on the train were closing. I'd made a commitment to be back by one. Given the train would take 30 minutes in each direction I'd have a little over three hours to run the city.

My best plan once I got there was no plan at all. I quickly had to figure something out.

The first thing I knew was it was going to require using a cab to get to wherever I was going to go and I'd be using the same method of transportation to return. I hadn't been to the Pantheon in a while so that became my instant plan. I knew it was near the Piazza Navona so I hopped in a taxi, gave the driver my destination in broken Italian and off I went. I was so unprepared I hadn't even thought to bring a map and Rick was the only one of us who had a working GPS. I had to really trust my nose to get around and that was going to be a stretch.

Once my cabbie had dropped me off at the Piazza, I walked to the center and as I spun around trying to figure out what direction I needed to go to get to the Pantheon I saw a man pulling out a placard for an opera to be performed that afternoon at the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

As many times as I've been in the Piazza Navona I had never been in this church so this time seemed as good as any to walk in for what I assumed would be a quick peek. Boy a peek wasn't going to be anywhere near sufficient to take in the beauty of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

Lets start with the ceiling. Painted by Ciro Ferri I can't imagine the pain and eyestrain of lying on your back painting this rendition of the Assumption of Mary.

The dome is an absolute architectural marvel all the way from its ring of clerestory windows to its oculus piercing the interior of the church with a beam of light.

The Baroque interior both inspires and awes. The sheer volume of height given to the space as a design element forces you to look upward and spin around I delight.

Then every niche was carved and sculpted with bas-reliefs giving the surreal feeling that the saints and heavenly figures were in the process of extruding themselves out of the walls and forcing their way back into the world.

There are times when no plan can be the best plan. That's how I stumbled into another unexpected find. I was still a bit uncertain of which direction to head once I left the Piazza Navona. l kept doing a three-sixty eye scan as I began what I thought might be the right direction to the Pantheon.  Luckily my eyes caught a glimpse into another surprise: the courtyard of the Chiostro del Bramante.

Here's where time was against me. Inside the open courtyard was this juxtaposition of a pair of stone heads placed in defiant simplicity against the background of the beautifully tiered Renaissance cloisters. The current exhibit of dreams interpreted into space by a curated collection of artists would only be able to happen in my dreams if I was to make my three hour commitment.

Once I reluctantly left the courtyard of Chiostro del Bramante I knew my time was getting short but then another church with an open door and a pair of cherubs was too much to ignore.

The entire interior was another space more museum than religious edifice.  Everywhere you looked there were murals, huge oils, architectural details and magnificent sculptures to admire.

I still had a bit of a walk to the Pantheon. I'm not always great with directions and had gone initially in the opposite way I needed to go. Once I saw the same group of polizia twice I knew I needed to get a map or give up on trying and to window-shop as I did my little tour.

That's a real tough task for me as these streets were filled with some very interesting shops. Lucky for my wallet none of them had opened at that hour in the morning.

It was still too early for lunch

and I was too rushed to sit for a cappuccino in a café like this one with the most amazing display of cups turned into a Calderesque ceiling fixture.

Thankfully the street musician with a rabbit on his shoulder had only gotten to the tuning up stage or I might have been forced to stand for ditty or two if only out of curiosity. I really wanted to know what part the rabbit might play!

After the rabbit I miraculously turned the corner and there I was at the fountain in front of the Pantheon. I'd reached my chosen destination. Now after this everything would be a bonus.

Going into the Pantheon is equivalent to a contact sport practice session. It's packed. It's annoying, but it's remarkable. The structural phenomenon of the dome keeps your focus skyward and then the crowds seem less annoying. There's no way you can walk out of the Pantheon without a massive crick in your neck from admiring the dome.

Since I've been to the Pantheon many times before this time I spent focusing on the details. They were amazing. The response to the Pantheon on first sight is its immenseness but it is also so lush with its smaller moments.

Sculptures that are tucked into corners glow with an aura only an angel could produce. They ring the room with their angelic smiles.

Before I finally jumped into a taxi to get me back to the train station I thought I had enough time to stop for one last taste of Italy's gelato that stretched into

one last forkful of Italian pastry.

One last peek at the amazing public art of Rome

One more opportunity to appreciate how the men of Rome dress in their starched shirts, creased pants and stylish jackets even when the its sweltering outside because Roman men apparently don't sweat.

and one last cappuccino foamy and rich in a way you don't see anywhere else.

I made it back to the train with less than two minutes to spare and the doors closed right behind me, the same way I came. Arivaderci Roma. I'll be back.