This is a day to remember!
We were on our way to the Vatican and had just got on the X40 bus when I realized my wallet had been stolen in the crush to get on!
I knew who had done the deed but we were on an express bus and the culprits were not on the bus, of course.
We managed to get off at the first stop which was not far from the place we got on and a woman who had seen the culprits as well got off with us and in broken english confirmed the descriptions of the pickpockets.
Disaster !! no money was in the wallet but it had all my cards and drivers licence.
She told us to go to the Polizia at the Terminus where the bus had departed from.
So we hiked back as quickly as we could and finally found the Police Office and were given a form to fill in to report the theft.
There was another couple there from England who had also had a wallet stolen with a bunch of cash in it.
While were were waiting for the form to be processed, (the typist had to come out to get my scrawl clarified) a door opened and a head popped out and called my name. The wallet had been turned in at another police kiosk and would be brought down to where we were.
The wallet arrived with all the cards intact, the only thing missing was $S5 and $A20!
We truly must have a guardian angel. The Polizia were also astonished, it never happens! Well almost never...
So it was back to the apartment for a recovery period, I was saturated. We picked up some lunch from a supermarket we found at the station and lunched at "home".
We decided that the Vatican was out today so opted to visit the Pantheon. A short bus trip to Largo di Torre Argentina (nothing to do with the country) then a couple of blocks through narrow streets and we were there...
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| The Pantheon - now a christian Basilica |
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| Hordes of people |
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| What a dome! |
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| Some of the interior of the Pantheon, after the conversion. The floor of polychrome marble is apparently original./ |
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| The main altar |
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| A Roman-Byzantine icon, covered in silver and gold |
We walked back to the Largo and had a look at the Sacred Area... This is a excavation of the ruins of at least 4 temples which were found in the 1920's when the foundations for a building were being excavated. They date from the Republican period of Rome.
It is still being excavated and is also the home for a lot of feral cats...
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| The Temple of Juturna |
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| The Temple of Juturna |
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| The Temple of Fortuna |
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| The Sacred area is also a cat sanctuary. One of the cats enjoying the warmth of the stone. |
On our walk from the bus stop to home we passed the remains of the Baths of Diocletian
Now reduced to a restaurant and car park
Tomorrow we have to get to the Vatican... we have tickets!
Wow. It's almost spooky that you did get it back, I'd be keeping an eye on you card data: I wonder if the pick pockets are fully teched up these days, and scan the magnetic stripes - then return the wallet so the cards don't get cancelled right away. Not to put too much of a negative spin on an otherwise excellent outcome however!
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