Italia! Rome...

After a year and a half of waiting, the day finally arrived. I was on my way to Italy! September 17th, I began the long, long trek to Rome. Meeting up with Harmony at JFK airport in NYC, it was so nice to see a familiar face. With a big smile, she laughed as she told me she was watching me look around the crowd trying to find her. She gave me a big hug & we were off. Free movies on the plane kept me really entertained and I was able to sleep some. Attractive tall boy sitting nearby helps too! 17 hours later...

Rome Airport was a ghost town until we left the gates. We were beginning to wonder if no one traveled on Sundays. Shuttle into the city took forever to leave. Driving in, the landscape looks more like Ohio than I would care for, but off in distance are these pretty little trees that scream Italy. I believe they were Poplar Trees & Umbrella Pines. Saw many sheep out in pastures. One pack was traveling with a duck. Saw an old white Fiat when we got into town. Wishing I took a picture of it.

Inside Rome is a mesh of streets, seems complicated but perhaps not. We entered our hotel room and found two tiny long beds. Even though it was pretty small, it was neat. The bathroom was extremely small. The toilet leaves no room for your legs b/c the shower is crammed on it, and that was a little square box with nowhere to set your wash items except the floor.

We had a meeting with our tour group then had the rest of the night free. We took our free time that evening to walk to the Trevi Fountain. So massive and so crowded. We got slices of pizza nearby - not so impressed b/c it was chewy & oily - and gelato, which was great.

Giant thunderstorm that night. Sat and watched lightning for a while from the hotel room window, which had large shutter windows and a gate. It was pretty wonderful.