Roma! Post No. 1

We arrived in Rome Friday afternoon - perfect travel - no delays, not much turbulance on the planes. We had a non-stop flight from Portland to Amsterdam, barely made our connection to Rome due to going through customs (nothing out of line, just long lines!).

After landing, we caught the train at the airport and zoomed our way to downtown Rome, nodding off as we tried to appreciate and watch the countryside. We were just too tired after 14 hours of flying to stay awake (and our sleep was restless on the plane). Here I am about to catch the train at the airport:

The breakfast room, on the upper level of our hotel (the Hotel Fontana):

I may be tired, but this is the view from that same room:

As soon as we got unpacked and settled, we set out in search of a cafe a latte, which we found around the corner from our hotel.

We strolled down a lively alley as afternoon settled into evening, enjoying the sights of outdoor restaurants and vendors. While walking, we came upon a rather large structure unexpectedly:

It was the Pantheon! We stumbled upon the Pantheon! Not sure how one can stumble across such a structure, but since we didn't have our bearings yet, it happened. We plan to go inside on Sunday . . .

On our return stroll, we stopped in at Blue Ice for gelato. I was leaning toward a scoop of Creme Caramel, but a young American woman mentioned how delicious Melting Chocolate was and, well, I melted for it. The young woman even took our photo, which I told her was in honor of Joni - cheers, Joni, we were thinking of you each and every bite!

It was a good first day. Grazi!