ARRIVAL-DAY 1

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Our flights were smooth and uneventful, in my book Perfect.About 6 hours into our 8 hour flight from Newark, I decided to raise the shade knowing it was completely dark outside. (Did I mention it was an 8 hour flight?)

Expecting total darkness, I was pleasantly surprised to see bright star clusters. At 34,000 feet it seemed that I was at eye level with the stars. As daylight approached, the horizon turned from a deep red to a brilliant gold. Rising from the cloudcover were magestic peaks of the Alps. If I were writing a screenplay, this is how I would create the view from Heaven.

We touched down at 7:30 am Roma time on Friday (12:30 pm Thursday, Houston time). We shared a New York type cab ride to our hotel in the historic section of the city. Our only Friday the 13th issue was a cloudy day which included rain during our afternoon.

Our "walking tour" was mainly a riding tour through the sights of Rome. We did stop and walk around Plazza Navona which includes two beautiful fountains including Bernini"s Fountana dei Quattro. We also walked about the Pantheon (will return later) and the Trevi Fountain. My pics are not wonderful, but maybe we will have less rain today when we visit the Vatican.

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