I felt like I had to birth this trip. So long in the planning and many labor pains not withstanding, we are here, in The Eternal City and very happy.

Leaving Tallahassee, we were in a minor panic about the weather and all of the documents we had completed and uploaded to KLM. I’m glad to report that everything went smoothly. All 3 of our flights left on time and arrived a few minutes early. The Delta lounge in Atlanta was so crowded we didn’t stay very long and opted to hang out nearer to our gate. The KLM lounge in Amsterdam was very nice with great breakfast food and super comfortable, well spaced chairs. Flying from there to Rome, over the snowy mountains and into a very green Italy, I really started to breathe deeper and feel the contentment of arriving.

We had a driver pick us up at FCO and bring us to 125 Via Sistina. The apartment is quirky–the 2 bathrooms are in the hall and right next to each other. The rest is pretty much as expected, which is to say–just fine not wonderful. Big plus is the lovely morning light in the living area. We have both opened our suitcases on the bed in the second bedroom and will use that as a dressing area.

Our first mission was to get a new Sim for my phone so we could have data. In the first block we saw the bar our owner had suggested and went in there for a quick and absolutely delicious coffee. Walking the 8 minutes to the TIM shop we had to go down the Spanish Steps; we took in the view from above all too briefly. We are so close, I am sure we’ll be back there soon. After a long wait the TIM system went down and we ended up going next door to get a €5 less deal which seemed, for the most part the same at Wind. So, we have a functioning Italian phone now.Our number is +39 3277376147.

Walking back we realized we were running on fumes (or vapors as Ken likes to say) so we went into the next spot we saw and got a quick sandwich of focaccia, ham and lettuce, nothing special but a little sustenance and some good people watching. The grocery store is called Todis and we got a very few things and made our way home.

We rested for a while. It took a lot for me not to sleep but I have my principles! Ken took a short nap and we went on a nice long evening walk. Our nieghborhood is filled with very touristy seeming restaurants with were quite full even though it was only 7:30. Nothing appealed. We ended up at I Giardino, recommended by our apartment owner, less than a block from here. Dinner was incredibly satisfying. We started with a bottle of nice, celebratory Franciacorta and had plate of nicely fried shrimp and calamari and some perfectly al dente spaghetti with little clams and pistachio nuts and my favorite, sauteed cicoria. We ended with a great little tiramisu and coffee. The pretty good food was accompanied by lots of sighs and acknowledgment of our good fortune to Be Here Now.

Waled the half block back to our apartment and went right to sleep.

Here are 2 street shots from our Roman day: