Made it! 2 planes, 1 train, and 1 subway ride. 24 hours of traveling and 1 hour of sleep. 1 good movie (The Book Thief), 2 mediocre meals, 1 Cinnamon Dolce Latte, and 1 slice of banana bread, which is Air Canada’s idea of breakfast before landing in Rome. There were a lot of Canadian-Italians on the plane. The woman next to me from Toronto spends 5 months in Sicily each year. Starting in April. I guess Toronto doesn’t get hot enough for her. And maybe she likes cold winters.
Location, location, location. My hotel/pensione little room, through the courtyard/3 flights up/ceiling higher than the room is wide/not going to complain about the single bed, is in a fantastic location two blocks from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. There are lots of restaurants and little shops on the street. I am told it is on the quiet side of the building but you wouldn’t know it tonight. Cats caterwauling. Signores singing. The theme from Titanic. It is Saturday night and the window is open because it is warm.
Checked in around 1 pm. After emptying the suitcase, taking a shower and having a lie-down, I went to check out the old neighbourhood. The very old neighbourhood. Ab urbe condita (or as autocorrect likes to say, abe urge conduit) – from the founding of the city. The Eternal City. Eternal since 753 BC. More of it has been unearthed since I was last here. There are lots of people, not all of them looking at the old stuff, some watching the lookers. Wandered around the forums and did a loop of the Flavian Amphitheatre before buying an uninspiring panini, clementines, yogurt and water. Went to sleep at 7 pm and woke up at 9 pm. Must try to get back to sleep. Tomorrow sight-seeing (and eating) turn serious.
