Rome, Italy: Day One.

The mountains on our way to Italy were so beautiful!
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We finally made it! We're in our hotel room in Rome! After eight hours and forty minutes in the air, getting lost on our way to the hotel and then transferring to another hotel, we can relax! Well - for the most part. The flight was ok. We left at 8:30pm EST. We got no sleep (well maybe an hour or so...). They played The Corpse Brideand Shakespeare in Love as well as a very interesting documentary on the early Olympics. They served us dinner and breakfast.

Jeff enjoying a Coke while waiting to get our room.
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We ended up at Santa Maria Maggiore Cathedral.

We got off the plane and headed to the train station for our train to Rome. It was packed! There was a long line up to get tickets and a guy pushed me - I wasn't too impressed! The train itself was pretty full as well. The scenery was beautiful - I liked the different colour houses and their beautiful gardens. The apartment buildings were nice as well. They had lots of plants on their balconies and clothes hanging out their windows which gave a very 'homey' feel to the Country.The trees here have all of their leaves, plants are growing and flowers are in bloom. The train ride took about a half an hour then we got off at the last stop - Termini. From here (with our luggage in tow) we walked in the direction of where we thought our hotel was in but we were wrong. We walked again in another direction and still - no luck. We were frustrated and pretty tired. We finally stopped took another good look at our map and found the place.

A fountain near Stazione Termini.
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The guy at the reception took forever with our passports then with my credit card. He asked us to wait a minute because he had to drive us to another location - that minute turned into over 30 because his relief was 'running late.' He gave us coupons to go and get ourselves something to eat and drink at a nearby bar. We decided to just get Cokes and waited 'patiently' on the outside patio. The man finally came with a car and took us to where we are now - another branch of the main hotel. It's much closer to the Metro (subway) and we're in a much better building. We even have our own washroom!

The Hard Rock Cafe.
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From the hotel (after we freshened up and unpacked) we walked to Stazione Termini and browsed through the stores. I had to get a new contacts case because I lost mine on the plane. We quickly found out that they only sell contact solution in optical stores in Rome. Good thing we found one. We looked around some more and then walked outside in search of food. We saw a fountain in a Piazza and stopped to take pictures.We ended up at The Hard Rock Cafe of all places!

The ceiling in Santa Maria Maggiore.
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I got my Dad his standard souvenir - a guitar pin. and my usual - a shot glass. Oh and I signed up for a membership with 20 free euros on a card. I had Twisted Mac & Cheese[Twisted cavatappi pasta, tossed in a lightly spiced 3-cheese sauce with roasted red peppers and topped with Parmesan parsley bread crumbs]. And Jeff had Bar-B-Que Ribs[A full rack of West Tennessee-style baby back ribs rubbed and basted in our authentic hickory bar-b-q sauce and cooked to perfection – so the meat falls right off the bone. Served with seasoned fries, ranch beans and homemade coleslaw] and Hickory Bar-B-Q Chicken[Our famous Southern-style, half-chicken, rubbed, grilled,and basted with our authentic hickory bar-b-q sauce. Served with seasoned fries and homemade coleslaw]. I guess he was hungry! Mine was so spicy I could hardly eat it! I don't think it was a 'lightly spiced sauce'. Jeff said his food was good. At least my Bacardi and Coke was good! Jeff had a Daiquiri.

An old confession booth.
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From here we took a different route back to our hotel. We saw another fountain and some carvings along the way. We ended up at Santa Maria Maggiore Cathedral. We decided to go in. It was decorated extensively. I took pictures of the Egyptian Obelisk (erected in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V) at the back and the Column (bronze -Mary and Jesus, added in 1615 from the Forum) at the front of the Church. We arrived En Mass so some areas were blocked off. I found the old confession box quite interesting.

Our first day here in Rome has been great! I really love it here. There's one problem though - the people here really do drive like maniacs! I'm so afraid that I'm going to get hit! Pedestrians do NOT get right of way here.

It's after 7 pm now - time for bed. With the six-hour time difference we're both exhausted!