Roma

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Buongiorno!
Day one of Rome was fantastic. We arrived in Rome at 9:30 am, had a private transfer company drive us to our hotel, and got situated there. We are staying outside the city (hotel Citta 2000) so our first task was to figure out how to get into the city. Unfortunately, neither of us speak much Italian, and there aren't as many people whom understand English as I thought there would be. It took us a while, but we managed to figure out that you have to pre-purchase tickets to get on the bus. This is important if you don't want to get stuck with a huge fine if you get caught without a ticket (they don't check when you get on). Anyway, we took a 15 minute bus ride to the subway station, and bought a ticket (€1) to get into the city.
Once in Rome, we were starving, so we quickly found a cute place to eat. I had read in many places that the restaurants close to the city center were over-priced and catered to tourists, so they didn't have a great selection of authentic Italian food, but we tried as hard as we could to find a good spot that was close. We were just too exhausted from the 13 hour journey over here to care that much. We ended up finding a cute place to sit outside. The weather was perfect yesterday. I ordered caprese and a swordfish dish, and Lindsay ordered ravioli of some sort. And of course a bottle of wine. My fish entree was... Well I think it was spoiled. I don't know... But I can usually eat anything and I couldn't choke it down. The caprese was good, but it came with a friend! (I tried uploading a photo, but apparently I cant on my iPad... I had a little green worm on my basil!)
Lindsay enjoyed her dish and we both loved the wine (just the house white).
After lunch we found a hop-on, hop-off tour bus. We decided to take that to see where all the main sights were without having to walk everywhere that day, and then travel around the next day to look more in depth at each place. We both loved the tour. It was very informational and we got to see everything we came to find.
We left the tour early, as we were both trying our best not to fall asleep (we had both been up for over 24 hours by then). Once we got back to the hotel, we got ready and headed out for dinner. Our front desk attendants told us about the restaurant they own, and that if we wanted to go, we could get a free shuttle there and back. We took them up on the offer, and I couldn't have been happier about the decision. The place was adorable. It looked like someone's house, with an amazing kitchen. The menu was only in italian, and the wait staff didn't speak any English. The best. I think the poor staff was more nervous than we were. We had little idea what we were ordering, but I am a pretty adventurous eater, so I was excited to try anything. Lindsay was more apprehensive, but she managed just fine. I ordered a bruschetta appetizer which was nothing like I expected, but I learned that I actually like anchovies! I had a pizza for dinner, and it was definitely exactly what I was hoping for. Best. Pizza. Ever. Lindsay laughed at how excited I was about the food.
We shared a bottle of red wine, and that too met all of my expectations. I wish we were not as tired, as the night was exceptional. As soon as we headed back to the hotel we couldn't wait to get into bed. I slept like a rock.
I woke up early this morning to the crash of thunder.
I have never woken up with such mixed emotions. On one hand, I was bummed that it was storming in Rome on my vacation. On the other, I was excited because I love thunderstorms.
So we got up and found our continental breakfast in the lobby area. Adorable settings, and great variety. I love Italian food. I think our waiter is the hotel's go-to man. He is always around, helping everyone. I ordered my first italian cappuccino today. Once again, met all my highest expectations! Lindsay doesn't like coffee, but I made her try it, just to say she did. I will make her try everything. 😊
It's now 11:00 am and we are relaxing in our hotel room, contemplating what to do on such a rainy day. Good thing I packed an umbrella!
Ciao, my friends!

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