1st Day in Roma!

You know the saying ‘All roads lead to Rome?’ Well, fortunately I am here. However, I feel that that statement should be changed to ‘All roads that lead to Rome are not easy.’ Since I arrived at the beautiful courtyard of my apartment, it has been smooth sailing, but getting there was where the waves came into play.

I was dropped off by my loving dad at the Richmond International Airport on Thursday afternoon. From there, I met up with my bella and fellow Graduate/Teaching Assistant, Jesi Capano. We studied abroad together on the Roma trip two summers ago where our friendship developed around our mutual love for good wine and good food. We were unfortunately on separate flights so I did not have much to do prior to or on the plane ride to Charlotte, North Caroline. Yep, I said Charlotte. I had no idea it was such a major international airport, but I had a direct flight from CIA to Roma! It was 8 hours long but there was plenty to keep me entertained.

I was in the center section of the two isles which I thought was going to be a terrible situation, but luckily the person that was supposed to sit to my left did not show so I had two seats to spread out across. On top of that, I had two great people sitting next to me. Carol was a retired elementary school teacher, so we had plenty of topics about our field to keep us busy, and was on her way to the Almalfi coast for a cooking and painting seminar. I was totally jealous! Then there was Trent. Such a sweet man. He was on his way to a small village south of Rome for Army ceremonies. He is a member of the Texas Army Reserves and had just gotten back from his third deployment to Iraq. We had plenty about the military to talk about. We ended up sharing a box of Godiva chocolates he bought duty free on the plane and some drinks to help us sleep on the somewhat rocky at times plane ride.

By the end of the ride, I had gotten about 3 hours of sleep and felt refreshed for our touchdown. It was a great plane ride until the last 10 minutes of the trip. An older man 2 rows behind me went into Cardiac arrest and I am pretty sure was unresponsive/not breathing. The captain made an announcement for any doctors flying on the plane to help and about 4 or 5 people rushed to the scene. After multiple shocks from a difibulator and CPR, he started breathing. When we arrived at the gate, the captain asked everyone to remain seated so that the airport medics could come onto the plane to assist. The man was carried out on a tarp breathing but I am not sure what happened after that. So if you could, say a prayer.

Once everything was taken care of, we were allowed to go claim our baggage. Mine was there, phew! After I grabbed my 47 lb suitcase, I went searching for Jesi who was to arrive at the airport 30 minutes before me. I couldn’t find her anywhere. Better yet, I couldn’t find her flight anywhere on the screen. I waited in line at customer service for what seemed like eternity and finally figured out that I was in Terminal 3 and her airline was in Terminal 1. So I dragged my bag up to that Terminal, which was quite the hike, and searched around for her there. Nowhere to be found. So I went back down to my Terminal to see if she was looking for me. No luck. Eventually after an hour or so of this back and forth between terminals, I came to the conclusion that 1) She already went to the apartment because she couldn’t find me or 2) Her plane was delayed.

Knowing that we are both capable adults and have traveled to the city before, I decided to head to the apartment. I opted for the 8 Euro charter bus option rather than the 40 euro cab ride by myself. I was too nervous to travel around anywhere by myself, being an American girl alone in a cab with a crazy Italian driver that could stalk me because he knows where I live. I got my ticket and got in line to wait and met the nicest woman from the UK, Jo. The ticket distributor helped us figure out our routes from the bus stops and took an extra liking to me. In fact, Alzeandro gave me his number and asked me numerous times to meet him tomorrow. I politely chuckled and said ciao and ran onto the bus.

It was a 40 minute drive to the city but I knew I was in Roma when I saw my first apartment with beautiful flowers and greens hanging from the balconies. When I got dropped off, I will have to admit, I had no clue where I was. Luckily, there was a bus information center that I was able to use my staggered Italian to make out a question on how to get to my apartment. The men talked mostly in Italian but I did make out ‘l’autobus: due otto cero,’ bus 280. So I dragged my bag and waited for the bus.

Let me tell you something about Italian buses, they are not my favorite form of transportation in the city. They are packed, they are hot, and they get stuck in lots of traffic. To make my long bus story short, I ended up riding it for close to an hour to find a stop as close to the Vatican or Saint Peters square as I could. A very nice Italian girl helped me figure out how many fermatas (stops) I had to my destination because she was heading to the Vaticano area as well. I got dropped off about 5 or 6 blocks from Saint Peters square, which is an additional 5 minute walk to my apartment. By the end of my walk, my hands were blistered from my bag and I was exhausted. I stopped in St. Peters Square to take a drink of water from one of the fountains and to take in the breathtaking view.

When I finally got to my apartment, I saw a few of the girls on the program and Jesi! I was so glad she was safe. I asked her how long she had been there and she said only a few minutes. One of her connecting flights was delayed which caused her to miss her plane to Paris. She had to wait 3 hours for the next plane. We were both glad to see each other and even more glad to see our room! We each have a queen size bed (which is two double beds pushed together) and only two of us in the room. After I unpacked my suitcase and shoved it under my bed only to look at it in a month when I have to leave, we decided it was time for Gellato.

Now, I have been learning some Italian over the past few weeks through numerous books, flash cards, and some Rosetta for the sole purpose of being able to order food in Italy. I thought the Gellateria would be a great first place to try it out. When Jesi and I got to our favorite shop, Old Bridge, there was a long line per usual. It is truly the best Gellato in the city and people know it. When I got to the counter, I confidently said “Vorrei fragola y cocco en una coni per favore.” The strawberry and coconut combination is something that I have been dreaming about for 2 years and was everything I remembered and more. I even got an air kiss from one of the boys working the counter after he told me “you are cute.”

When we got back to the apartment, we joined some of the girls on a trip to the grocery store up the street. Jesi and I decided to get only food for breakfast and also some apperativos and vino, which we enjoyed back at the apartment as the church bells of St. Peter’s were ringing. We had focaccia bread, prosciutto, olives, mozzarella, and peccarino romano, And I can’t forget the glass of Sangiovese. It was the perfect pre-dinner snack. I decided to take a cat nap since I was exhausted from the day but as many of you know, my naps tend to be extended naps. 2 ½ hours later, i woke up around 9:45 pm and realized that we had slept through many people’s dinner plans. I quickly got dressed and we made a plan. We went downstairs to see if any girls wanted to join us for dinner or a drink and we had 3 tag along. We went back to a restaurant called ‘Gusto’ that we had visited last time we were here. I really wanted to go back because I had some of the best fried food I found in the city there.

I was able to practice my Italian ordering and the waiter was very responsive to me trying. However, the Italians then keep speaking the language and I have to say ‘nun capisco,’ I don’t understand. We got a bottle of vino frizzante, which was a delicious red wine that is just as the name says fizzy. I got a plate of fried food that included a suppili (fried ball of rice, mozzarella, and tomato paste), a fried ball of ricotta, and 2 fiore de zucca, which are friend zucchini flowers with cheese and artichokes. Hands down my favorite taste of Roma. With every bite the happiness showed in my face. I was in foodie heaven!

Once we were finished with our meal, it was 12:30 am. However, there were still tons of people eating. Romans have such a laid back lifestyle and time does not seem to matter to them. I used my map reading skills to get us to the Spanish steps and then my Italian to hail us a cab to Saint Peters square for 10 euro. As Jesi calls me, I was tour guide Barbie for the night.

But now it is 2:30 am and I should be getting to bed. I’m sure I am going to feel the jet lag tomorrow.

Bona note all!