Travel to Roma

Rome is lovely! We flew all day and arrived in Rome around 12pm, Roma time. We took a long nap and then got up and ate a tastey 4 course meal over 3 hour time span... then we walked around our hotel for a bit and then came back to check in with everyone via the www to let everyone know that we're not dead! It being late and us being exhuasted we decided that it would be an excellent way to relax in our hotel room.

Travel:
The flights were actually extremely managable. I only got claustrophobic once because I used the "small" bathroom - otherwise I used the "larger" one and I was fine. We were served meals in backwards order (or so it seemed) dinner, lunch and then breakfast. It never got dark outside because we were flying into Friday all the way there... that was kind of weird. I watched two movies of my choice (I love tvs in the back of the seat in front of you!) and I read some excellent Harry Potter. Went through customs and security AGAIN in Amsterdam which was silly, but we had plenty of time... and then I zonked out once we were seated on that plane. Woke up as we were landing... when we landed we walked out onto the tarmac and immediately hopped onto a bus... european style... barely room for myself let alone the bag I was carrying (more claustrophobia)... I sat down while Loving Husband waited for our luggage (see pictures) Yay it all arrived! We then walked outside caught a cab and headed into Roma.

The Drive:
Our first experience riding around the city was very similar to as everyone expected, terrifying and crazy. The roads are very small as are the cars... but they put 4 across a two lane road and more than happily will run over people on Vespas... No one died and there were no crashes so we just enjoyed the scenary as we drove.

The Ride:
The ride was very nice - a lot of graffiti, almost Berdo-ish in parts... we drove past St. Pauls church on the way in and look forward to walking around that more later on our trip... we saw some lovely architecture throughout the area... and then we went down streets that in the states aren't large enough to constitute an alley.

The Hotel:
The hotel is very nice... our room is small, but not tiny enough to prevent me from breathing... and we have french doors that open up to a really nice patio outside with a nice set of table and chairs. They speak english here, which is nice - and so far (I know we've only been here 12 hours) we've had no language issues. We're at this hotel: Hotel Villa San Pio until Sunday and then we'll be moving into the Company paid for one (not sure which one that is, but Loving Husband does - so not my problem!)

Italian Food:
Loving Husband and I ate at the resturant down here at the hotel, we had appetizers, a first course (of angel hair pasta and basil tomato sauce), second course was a filet with herb potatoes (the best I probably ever have had!), and tastey dessert... it was delicious... and of course VINO!

Tomorrow:
We're off to the Vatican! I'm sure that will take all day... I'll try to post a few more pictures and blogs along the way!