Finding Joy in the Journey: When in Rome: Day 1

---When I went to Europe as a teenager I didn't keep a travel journal. I only took pictures and figured they would be good enough memories for me to remember where I went and what I did. But it has been 6 years since I went and a lot of my memories have faded and I am so mad I didn't keep a journal because now I don't know what a lot of the pictures are of. So for my Europe blog posts they will be pretty detailed and probably boring. But this is one experience I want to remember forever. So lots of pictures and random thoughts... :)----

Wednesday June 20th and Thursday June 21st

Our trip began at JFK airport. When we boarded the plane I was surprised with how long it was. It felt like it took forever to get to my seat. Mike and I sat together and I was surprised at how claustrophobic I felt sitting between the window and Mike. I am pretty sure the seats were smaller than other airlines I have flown.

I took benadyrl and my plan was to sleep the whole time. I did a pretty good job at it too. I woke up only to eat my free meal (Mike and I were both surprised about that.)

After dinner I watched "The Vow." I cried through the whole thing.

I took benadyrl and my plan was to sleep the whole time. I did a pretty good job at it too. I woke up only to eat my free meal (Mike and I were both surprised about that.)

After dinner I watched "The Vow." I cried through the whole thing.

The first part of exploring was kind of defeating as the streets don't have street signs like the ones we have in America, they are etched into the sides of the buildings. So finding the name of the street was hard. Finding the street on the map we have was almost impossible. We found the Trevi Fountain only because our hotel in a 2 min walk from it. Finding the spanish steps was a little more challenging. Finally I told Mike we needed to eat something so we sat down at the first place we saw. When he took our drink orders we forgot to ask for tap water so we got it in a bottle which costed us 7.00 Euro... Mike was in shock when we saw that on the bill. So at diner we made sure we asked for tap water. For lunch we shared some pasta cardanaro and a margarita pizza.

After lunch we grabbed our first geloto of the trip and boy was it delicious!!

We then found our way to the Spanish Steps where we were worked over by a local. He handed me flowers, told me to keep it, took pictures of Mike and I then demanded 5 euro for his flowers and services. I kept one flower and gave the rest back and he still made me give him 2 euro. Ridiculous! We walked up the steps (maybe a little panting was done, it was 99 degrees and humid ok!)

We roamed around Borrguse Park for several hours. We tried to get the free wifi the signs talked about but didn't have any luck! We also cooled off our feet in a pretty fountain. It was a much needed cool down as the weather here is so hot!

After a while we decided we were tired of walking so we got a cab to take us to Piazza Navona. It was really a lively and fun place. People were everywhere doing so many different things. There were street performers, singing, dancing, dressed up in fancy ball gowns, people painted to look like statues. The piazza was lined with patio resturance, just a really cool European vibe.

After people watching for a while we got out our Rick Steve's guide book to find a place to eat dinner. We found a great one just down the street. I was happy that the food was reasonably priced. We got pasta, a ham and cheese calzone, bruschetta and drinks all for 23 Euros. With the exchange rate that is probably $30(is) that is really good for us. When we go to a "cheap" place at home it is usually at least $35. The food was delicious as you could imagine and I was stuffed by the time we were done.

After dinner it was dusk so we decided to do a little but of Rick Steve's night walk. We walked to the Pantheon, which was really, really cool. We got out my iPod that I had downloaded some Rick Steve's walking tours on and listened to him tell us about the Pantheone. I didn't realize that it was first built in 70 B.C. and then rebuilt in 120 A.D. That is a pretty old building. The colosseum was build in like 400 A.D. and it isn't in nearly as good shape. Anyways since it was night we got great pictures but weren't able to go inside.

So we enjoyed the Piazza for a while then headed to the Trevie Fountain. I thought maybe at night it would be less crowded for some reason. I was wrong. It was packed!!! So many more people than when we were there in the day. We fought the crowd to take some pictures then treated ourselves to some more gelato. Having my favorite Italian treat in front of my favorite Italian Monument was the perfect way to end my First day in rome!