We get through customs, collect our bags and make our way through the Leonardo Da Vinci Fiumicino airport in 32 degree heat to catch the Leonardo Express - Rome's version of the Heathrow Express and something the Victorian government needs to consider. But, I digress.
Rome's airport is not what I expected - it is a bit more run down and very tired, but 30 mins on the Leonardo Express and we are in Roma Termini, the Grand Central of Rome. We quickly get ourselves setup with a data sim card from TIM (yes TIM) which is amazingly cheap. 10€ for the sim and the it's 5€ per week for unlimited data and 60 mins worth of local calls throughout Italy - which is why we are able to share our travel stories!
Not that there is too much to share from day 1 because the moment we arrive at our accommodation, the Hotel Patria, Tim and I struggle to fight back a case of the sleepies and miss the free tour we were going to join up with in the evening. Nonetheless, we push on and do get to cross off some sights - the Spanish Steps, the Fontana di Trevi (which included a stop at one of the hundreds of Gelati stores in Rome), the Victor Emmanuel monument, the exterior of the Pantheon (seeing the rest of it today), and the church of the Gesu - mother church of the order of the Jesuits, which if you ask me has ceilings that crap over any others I've seen because it has been created in "3D". The Sistine Chapel has a lot to live up to right now!
Our final stop for our first day is the Piazza Navona. It is here that we settle in for our first real Italian meal. So far, nothing we wouldn't have been able to taste on Lygon Street. That said, Piazza Navona is probably one of the biggest tourists traps with its music buskers, "bronze" and "gold" statues and painters. Tonight, hopefully we will be more successful.
On the whole, I can't quite decide what Rome is. The ancient buildings and architecture tucked amongst other buildings gives it its medieval city feel, but the hustle and bustle of people makes it feel like a true metropolis.
Now before some photos, which I've been trying to capture artistically on my G12 and failing, here are Tim's Observations:
- Ness got her first experience Italian affection when the customs officer stared her up and down, quite obviously, before handing back her passport. (Ness is yet to receive a "ciao bella however).
- Cheap Rome hotel rooms are not designed for Tai Chi.
(here are some photos, unfortunately the blogger app doesn't have quite as good functionality as I hoped, so the photos are appearing in random order and without captions - but these will just be some teasers, we'll upload the rest of our photos when we're back).
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