Postcard from the... Pantheon!

Dear friends,

I would like to take you on an epic journey around a beautiful site.

We are in the city of Rome. We love Rome-ing around Rome. One day we were looking around Rome when …(tan tan tan!) we saw the Pantheon. (The Pantheon is a building with a giant dome in it. It is very pretty.) 

Outside the building we saw... the biggest crowd ever. The tourists came from all over the world. I heard at least 15 languages or more! There were people selling everything… from scarves to ice-cream to weirdo little flingy thingies, like mini helicopters, that fly up into the air and then fall down into the crowd. 

The line was enormous, like a giant anaconda. Mommy and daddy bought me a strawberry and vanilla ice-cream (gelato), but I had to eat it very quickly because you weren’t allowed to take it in the Pantheon, nor did I want it to melt in the flaming hot sun. 

Once we were inside, I was mesmerized. One of the most famous things about the Pantheon is its roof. It is absolutely stunning. It also has a giant hole in the middle, called an oculus.

On April 21st - Rome’s birthday - the sun shines through the hole and hits the entrance of the temple. This is for the emperor to walk through in the shining sun. (Too bad if he didn’t have sunglasses!)

Every other day the light shines upon a new painting around the Pantheon, giving us a new story to learn. 

But… what in the world happens when it rains, you are wondering? You may think the rain pours through the oculus and floods the whole building, maybe even ruining the paintings.

Actually, the Romans were very intelligent. They made the floor slope downwards to a big drain. So when it rains, the water flows like a stream toward the drain and down into the ancient Roman plumbing system. 

When I got out I was excited that I had seen the Pantheon, one of the roundest buildings I had ever seen. It felt like time for a triangle pizza, or even a square one.

Well, that’s all for today. Until next time!

Frida