What a beginning!

4/17
Despite the volcano in Iceland wreaking having with air travel in Europe, we got into Rome with no problems, just a slight delay due to diverting south to avoid the ash.  Getting through the airport was easy enough - Italian customs was just a brief glance at our passports from the customs agent and off we went!  Now, getting to the hotel was another story.  Since we were on our own because we arrived a day early, we had to decide how to get to the hotel from the airport.  Since we didn't know there was a Metro stop AT the airport, we opted for ground transportation.  Luckily there are official shuttles that go to the hotels, just don't be surprised if you see a random stranger ramble something in Italian or broken English at you and wave you to a shuttle station to buy a shuttle ticket.

After running to keep up with the driver to get to our shuttle - a Mercedes by the way - off we went!  The airport is out in the country, so we got to see a bit of the Roman coastal plains.  Everything is a rich, vibrant green, mainly grass and grain/seed crops.  From the country we then entered a less than prosperous area of Rome.  Frankly, it reminded me of the types of slums you would expect to see in large American cities - grafiti everywhere, old junky cars, beggars, etc.  No sooner than we got numbed to that, we turn the corner and there's an ancient pyramid 50-feet high made of some sort of stone, marble maybe.  And soon after that we pass the Circus Maximus, mainly a grass field now with minimal ruins on the end closest to us, the Palatino, home of the Roman emperors, and before you know, there it is.  The most recognizable ancient structure in Rome, the Colosseum, or Colosseo as they call it here.

That's when it really hits you - this is it.  You're passing a structure over 2000 years old that has seen countless numbers of feet tread its circumference, immeasurable numbers of people and animals that have fought, died, or cheered those that did.  It is overwhelming - awe-inspiring and intimidating all at once.  The architects of Washington DC may have designed that city to be intimidating to first-time visitors, but it has nothing on Rome and what you see here.

Not one-quarter of a mile down the road and we're pulling up at our hotel, the Grand Palatino, sitting in the middle of a major modern street in Rome, surrounded by modern buildings and always busy.  It just reinforces the idea that Rome isn't just an ancient city of immense power, but it's also a modern city full of life and energy as much as any modern American town.  The juxtaposition of the modern and the ancient is jarring at times, but also soothing as it affirms the continued existence of this amazing city.

How quickly one becomes immersed in the minutia of life, even in the midst of such grandeur.  First, the converter that was kindly loaned to us (thanks Forrest!), didn't seem to work with the outlets in the hotel - and then I couldn't get my personal cell phone to get a signal as apparently I had forgotten to get the right data card for Europe.  Luckily we had just a simple plug adapter and that seemed to work just fine.  On with the electronics charging!  No internet unless you pay for it - and it's not cheap, 8 Euro per hour (15 for 3 hours, etc).  So no nightly updates when in Rome.

A short nap and a planning session later, we decided to make a slight change in plans and set out to walk around the city near the hotel.  There are pizzerias everywhere!  This is just fine by me as the pizza is just amazing and so fresh.  It seems that every pizzeria has a wood-fired oven, and the flavor it adds to the crust is just incredible.  And the gelato!  There are two gelato places near the hotel (at least we've only found two so far) and the gelato you get there is fresh and made right in the store.  The brightness of the strawberry, the tartness of the lemon aren't masked by chemicals or additives, or even too much sugar, so you almost feel as if you're eating a sorbet...until you try the pistachio or something with chocolate in it.  Then it's just creamy, smooth, and so decadent you almost feel guilty for eating it.  Almost but not quite - it's just way too good.  I fully expect to be eating gelato 2-3 times a day here, every chance we get.  No worries about gaining weight though, we're going to be walking everywhere we go.


We walked and went up and down stairs - a lot of stairs and then headed to dinner because it was getting dark and we wanted to rest up for a full day on Sunday.  Commence with the experience known as dinner - a 3-hour extravaganza with frenzied waitstaff, amazing food, fantastic wine and separate serenades by a wandering guitarist and a wandering accordion player.  And don't forget the after-dinner gelato!  A lighter option than the cheesecakes and torte at the restaurant.

Even though it's warm during the day, once the sun goes down, the temperature drops a good 10-20  degF and the humid air seeps into your bones.  It's almost a requirement to have a jacket with you over a light shirt, because you get downright hot while walking in the sun, but chilled when standing in the shade or after the sun goes down.  So, hunched in our jackets while eating ice cold gelato, we ended our first day in Rome and headed back to the room.