First [real] Day in Roma: Buon Anno!

We were exhausted from traveling, so our first day in Roma was spent sleeping and trying to overcome jet lag. I so wish I could sleep better on planes. Even in business class I had trouble sleeping more than two hours. Ian, however, sleeps like a baby on planes. Sigh. Oh well! We're in Roma now!

We are staying at the Blackberry House Bed and Breakfast. The owner, Barbara, is so incredibly nice and helpful. She even let us check in a day early since we made all our flights. This is the courtyard in our building complex - the B&B is straight ahead.


We arrived in Roma on New Year's Day, so nearly everything was closed in observance of the holiday. We did find one pizza place a few doors down from our B&B, so we had a nice dinner of pizza and Peroni.


Saturday was our fist full day. We began with a nice complimentary breakfast at Blackberry and then made our way to the Colosseum. While we opted not to pay for the tour, we enjoyed strolling around the Colosseum and experimenting with our new camera. (Can you see me in the Red?)



It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining and it was relatively warm (remember, I'm a cold person so even 60 isn't overly warm to me!). We walked around the Roman Forum and visited my favorite Italian building: the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele (I call it the wedding cake building). We are both amazed by the grandeur of the buildings. It's hard to believe that they were built so long ago and still stand so elegantly today. Many of the buildings are undergoing restoration.



After a brief (ahem, four hour...) nap, we headed to the Fontana di Trevi to make a wish for the New Year and enjoy another dinner of pizza and vino. I could eat pizza everyday! Many of the shops were closed on Saturday (still observing the for the New Year, I guess), so we have yet to do any shopping - not that Ian's upset! We're desperately trying to learn more Italian, even though most Italians know some English, we feel very ignorant not speaking the language. Hopefully we will pick up a few key phrases and conversational speech by the end of the week.

Today, Sunday, we plan to enjoy a picnic of bread, cheese, pancetta, and wine in one of the many parks and perhaps stroll around the city a bit. As it is Sunday, nearly everything will be closed (yet again!). We're hoping more stores and restaurants will be open tomorrow. Arrivederci for now!