From Pounds to Euros

    So....I'm in Rome right now and it is blowing my mind! I've been here for about three hours now and I already feel like I am in love with this city. It's very ironic because I have not really seen that much yet since we really just came from the airport to our bed and breakfast. I have yet to seen Rome in the day, but what I have seen I have loved!

   This morning we had classes, which I am thinking may not have been the best idea. You could tell that everyone had their trips on their brains. We were given this whole week (excluding Sunday I suppose) to travel anywhere we wanted. Before coming on the trip to London a group of us got together and decided that we wanted to go to Rome! Class went by very slowly, not due to Brett or George's teaching, but I think we were all rearing to go. I was actually pretty nervous waking up this morning, but after classes we got our initial travel plans figured out, and away we went! We took the tube to a train station, the train station to the airport, and the airport to Rome! Our journey went pretty well without too much trouble! It's always interesting flying on Ryanair because the airline tickets are cheap, but they charge you high prices for everything else. Fortunately we all managed to get our bags on without having to check them and despite a small hiccup with our passports (who knew you were supposed to check them before security if you are an American Citizen), we managed to make it here!

Hanging out in the airport

Went to Pret for the first time and got this delicious chocolate croissant 

    We arrived at the Rome Ciampino Airport around 9:40 and made it through passport checking very easily. The airport was surprisingly dead once we exited the gates, and so we were at a slight loss as to how we were supposed to get to our bed and breakfast. We finally tracked down a man who had a taxi big enough for all six of us. He was very friendly and helped us with our bags, but then spoke on his phone in Italian the whole drive. It was expecting the drive to be a bit crazy like the ones I experienced in Boston or Mexico, but it was relatively tame. It might just be that it was later in the evening. We think that he may have ripped us off as far as the fare went, but we were just happy to have found our Bed and Breakfast.
   The place we are staying at is called T&V Bed and Breakfast. We were originally looking into hostels, but stumbled upon this place and decided it worked best for our needs. It had a four person private room for the girls, and a two person private room for Dallin and I. Now I want you to picture a picturesque (but still inexpensive and not too fancy) place to stay and Rome and this falls under all those categories. The property has a little courtyard of sorts where we had to walk up to a big door and ring a buzzer. Suddenly from a window higher up a man yells in accented English "I coming!" We were soon greeted by a very friendly Italian man named Maximo. His English wasn't the best, but he managed to communicate with us pretty well. Between his basic knowledge of English and Jennifer's basic knowledge of Italian, we figured out rent and most of how our rooms work.
   Our room is on the second floor and it has a main entry room and a kitchen that we all share. It then has three different rooms where we break off between the boys and girls. We are staying in two of the rooms and the third has not been rented out to anyone yet, and we are hoping it stays that way! Maximo was so friendly and he kept telling us that we should call him if we need anything.

The main entryway/room. Girls rooms straight ahead, boys room to the right. Kitchen to the left

The kitchen

Guys room. The window has a great view of the courtyard and is much bigger than this picture makes it out to be. I am freaking in love with it. (We also have our own personal bathrooms) 

Also, how perfect is it that I have a picture of Tower Bridge hanging in my room?

   Maximo gave us some directions to an ATM so we could get some money, as well as a market to get some groceries if needed. It was already pretty late, but we decided to go out into the town to get our basic surroundings figured out. Just in a short walk we saw some pretty impressive sights. I kept thinking, "That's cool! I bet it's important...I wish I knew what it was." It was really fun! I can't wait until tomorrow when we start to see some of the official sights in the daylight!
   We stumbled upon a little parlor that sells gelato and we all agreed that we had to have some on our first night in Rome. I got a mix of chocolate and strawberry gelato. It was AMAZING! The strawberry had seeds and tasted really fresh and the chocolate was so rich. We are pretty intent upon eating some of that deliciousness every day.
  It's a bit late now, and definitely time to get some sleep! We have big plans for tomorrow and I am so excited to see all the things that Rome has to offer!

Gelato!