A Roman walkabout

 A morning stroll through Rome with a quick visit to the many sites that inspire me.  The Pantheon... I mean, look at this handsome guy:

There was NO LINE (!!) so I walked in to this most extraordinary space, God's little Orb of Brilliance, the Bubble of Love, to just enjoy it.  The hoards had not arrived so I got some quality time at the tomb of Raphael.  

It says: "Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he lived, and when he died, feared that she herself would die."  

Then I meandered over to the Trevi Fountain, a place so marvelous but I usually avoid because it's such a tourist scene.  But today I lucked out!  They were cleaning it, vacuuming out the zillions of coins people throw in.  Fabulous!  Watch:

Then I strolled up and down Via dei Coronari, a lovely pedestrian street with interesting antique shops.  Just off the Via is a church dedicated to Padre Pio.  He was a Franciscan friar, a Capuchin, who raised some eyebrows in the church when he received the stigmata!  He had visions, performed miracles, and was believed to have the wounds of Christ (the stigmata) appear on his hands and feet through most of his life.  Here is a photo of him in 1919:

He was canonized by JPII in 2002 and is much loved and venerated throughout Italy.  There is a side chapel dedicated to him and it has many of his personal items, included some with blood on them:

The church itself is exquisite and includes this awesome altar decoration of a pelican.  The pelican was a very early 'symbol' of and for Christianity.  A secret symbol, of sorts.  The pelican is commonly associated with sacrifice because of the commonly held belief that, in a pinch, a pelican will pierce its own breast to feed its young.  Flesh and blood. The sacrifice of JC.  

And then I just had to have lunch.  Cacio e pepe, a chilled Rose, a bowl of strawberries.  Yes, la vita E bella!