Day One in Rome

Rome feels like a dream come true.  However, when I first arrived in Rome, I felt like a nightmare.

Thanks to some sneaky dairy in my airline food, I was sicker than a dog on the last leg of my flight in.  My stomach was cramping so badly I couldn't sleep, it was uncomfortably warm on the plane, and my neighbor's bright IFE screen only exacerbated the migraine I could feel forming.

But I will say this - the flight attendants were very nice to me.  They gave me a toiletries kit out of the first class so I could brush my teeth and a bottle of ginger ale to help settle my stomach.

Needless to say, I was not feeling too great when I landed in Rome.  However, going through customs was a breeze, and I now officially have a stamp on my passport!

Baby's first passport stamp!

The only thing I had on my mind was getting to my B&B, taking a nap, and showering the sick off of me.  I caught a bus from Fiumicino to Termini, the main train/metro station.  (It's true what they say about the Roman bus system: it really does have a mind of it's own.  The metro is much more reliable - but more on that later.)

Once I got to Termini, I was incredibly overwhelmed.  There are trains, taxis, buses, and the metro lines all delivering people into this central hub.  It was crazy busy, and I could barely function beyond making sure I had a grip on all my luggage. (I definitely overpacked a little, and I've now learned my lesson!)

So I took a moment to just breathe.  I found a spot on the wall between benches and just...existed for a moment.  Tried to control my breathing so I wouldn't get sick again, because I had no idea where the bathrooms were.

Then I glanced to my right and noticed a monk sitting on the bench next to me, and I immediately felt that nothing terrible could happen to me with a monk sitting right there. I pulled myself together and set off to figure how the metro worked.

The trick to figuring out anything in a new city is observation.  I simply followed to crowds down to the metro, and then watched a few people buy tickets from the self-service machine to see how it worked.  (Bonus: the self-service machines have an English language option, so I didn't have to strain my extremely limited knowledge of Italian!)

Same for getting my ticket validated: I just followed a group of people, watched how they did it, and then tried it for myself.  And voila! I was on the metro.

Fortuitously, I had looked up directions to my B&B before I left, and had copied them into my travel journal - which is what saved me.  I knew that if I could get to the Ottaviano metro station, my B&B was only a block or two away.

So five stops later, I was banging my suitcase up the steps of the metro and back out into Rome.  It didn't take me long to find the street my B&B is on, but I had to circle it a few times before I actually found the building!

Alessandro was here to meet me, and he let me in to the B&B.  I'm sure I looked like death warmed over, but he was charming and gracious.  He showed me to my room (which was fortunately ready, even though check-in wasn't for another two hours), then gave me a brief tour of the place.  It takes four keys to get to my room, which makes me feel super safe! Street door, inside door, B&B key, then room key.

Alessandro then sat down with me and showed me the best routes on the map to get to some of the sights - and even told me some lesser known, smaller churches to see.  He highlighted paths on the map and circled where things were.  So helpful!

After that, I went to my room and slept until nearly 5:00.  Once I woke up, I felt slightly closer to human - and a piping hot shower brought back up to decent shape. I unpacked and rested a bit more before deciding to go out and brave the streets of Rome.

Vintage Coca-Cola ads are actually quite popular here!

I decided to risk food - it had been too long since I'd eaten and kept it all down :(.  So I went back to a little restaurant I had seen earlier.  It had a vintage Coca-Cola ad outside, and I took it as a sign that I should eat there.  (My grandpa used to work for Coke.)

A little Coca-Cola goes a long way!

Half a bowl of pasta and a nice cold Coke later, I felt...actually decent, which was astonishing considering how my day started! I ran back to my B&B to grab a jacket, and then decided to do some wandering.

Alessandro told me, when he was marking my map, that the best way to see Rome was to go to a neighborhood and get lost in it. So that's what I did! I wandered around the general vicinity of my B&B, spotting some shopping I'd like to do later this week and just getting familiar with the area.

After a bit, I hopped back on the metro and headed up a few stops to the Spanish Steps.  Sadly, they are under renovation right now. so I window shopped in all the luxury stores around the Piazza di Spagna. (Bulgari! Dolce and Gabbana! Versace!)

My wallet can't afford much of that, though, so I set out on one of the walking paths Alessandro suggested: from Piazza di Spagna, tak Via del Babuino to Piazza del Popolo.

My handy dandy map!

Piazza del Popolo houses an ancient Egyptian obelisk - and I do love ancient Egypt! I circled around it, testing my hieroglyphics knowledge, before trying to find the next leg of my wander: from Piazza del Popolo, head down Via Ferdinando de Savola until you cross the Tevere River on the Ponte Margerita.  Admire the cute little houses on the water.  

Egyptian Obelisk - Hopefully I'll get some better pictures tomorrow!

Right after crossing the bridge, I found a gelateria that had been open since 1947.  I decided to risk the possibility of dairy to try out gelato.

Strawberry & lemon gelato!

It was like ice cream and fruit slushies had a baby, and then God himself smiled down on it and blessed it with flavor.  My gelato was like the frozen strawberry lemonade smoothie of dreams.  As I nearly devoured my gelato whole, I continued down Via Cola di Rienzo, which would take me back to Piazza Risorgimento. From there, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump back to the B&B! (Look at me go, doing directions and stuff!)

Now I'm back in my room, getting ready for a day of sightseeing at the Vatican tomorrow!

The end of the night - much better than the beginning of the day!

Stay tuned for more of my latest adventure!

Ciao,

Samantha

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