Italy: Day 2 (07-03-09)

After a long flight (8 hours from NYC) where I unsuccessfully attempted to fold up like Gumby in my seat to get some sleep, we landed in Rome at 9am (that’s 3am Eastern US time) and were anxious to see the city. But first, we had to wait a long two hours for our luggage. When it finally arrived, we met our driver who took us to our apartment where we’d be spending the next five days. The first of order of business? A nice long nap for everyone. After several refreshing hours of sleep, we were ready to go explore the city. Our apartment is only a couple blocks away from the coliseum, so we wondered down that way, stopping to take a few pictures and to relish the history that surrounded us. We meandered through some of the neighborhood streets, getting ourselves acquainted with the area and mentally noting locations for the local bakery, atm, supermarket, and a few other places. Then we walked down past the coliseum and over to the forum. We’ll be spending more time exploring these historical places over the next few days but we enjoyed getting a quick overview of many of Rome’s ruins. After working up an appetite, we settled in for our first real Italian meal of the trip. Dad, Anne Marie and I had pasta while Mom, Joey and Adam all had pizza. Of course, by the end we were all sharing food so that everyone could try a bite of all the wonderful entrees. Then, what else but gelato to finish up our meal. It was as good as I had remembered from our last trip. After a full first day, we headed back to our apartment to turn in for the night and get ready for tomorrow!
Above is the secret midget door which is the entrance to our apartment (we feel like keebler elves going in and out). Below is the room where Adam and I are staying. It has a double bed and a bonus single just in case Adam needs a time out :)
Here is Anne Marie and Joey enjoying gelato after dinner.
Adam gives the coliseum a thumbs up!
Just a random vendor on the street selling a colorful array of fruit and vegetables.
Anne Marie found a podium and was inspired to strike a pose.
Below is the forum.
Beautiful view of the coliseum which you can see from our apartment.