Rome Day 1

Setting Off
Well for us the day started at stupid O'clock with a bleary eyed creeping out of our houses and zig zagging across the motorway to Liverpool.
At the airport we started the trip with a good argument and fits of giggles when we discovered how over-early we were ("it's like soooo your fault, I was just driving").
The check in desk hadn't even opened yet :-(

John Lennon Airport (will they ever get over the beatles in Liverpool?) is a funny little place that feels like someone's garden shed. My favorite bit being the "smoking area" a tiny corner roped off with about a thousand people wedged in all puffing away franticly and how everyone else would visibly gag n heave walking past it.

Arriving
The first thing we noticed when getting in to Rome was how warm and sunny it was. The second thing we noticed was how the locals obviously did not agree.
We were happy in our T-shirts but they were all wrapped up in full duffle coats, hats and scarves!
Is it "Mad dogs and Englishmen" or just the Italians living up to their rep for being rather soft?
Either way Blue sky's and clean air beats Manchester hands down.

The Hotel

This is the view out of our window. We were worried what we would be getting but it was fantastic little place 4* all marble and big rooms right next to the metro. The staff were very cute too and didn't let us struggle on in Italian but spoke great English.

Down side was it seems to be school trip season and the whole city was swarming with excitable kids and frantic teachers. Our hotel had its own group, Russian we think, bounding around the place. It was very entertaining to see who was sneaking in to who's rooms all the time and pass the teachers having impromptu meetings about some naughty child. You don't even need the words with all the same gestures and pointed sighing that our old teachers would do.
Ah sweet memories of trouble causing.

What we did

First stop after unpacking was to the Trevi Fountain and some fresh gelati (ice cream).
The ice cream over there is fab, its all home made and dished out in sizable portions. All kinds of random flavours, my mango one was delicious.

There were loads of guys selling stuff there (all very short and looking a little Mexican to me). Kate got pinned by one (note the roses) "I give you, give you, is free - for luck si" and left me getting tapped up for the cash :-)

Being all innocent she was quite miffed when she worked out what just happened and spent the rest of the trip being very suspicious of random small people trying to offer her anything.

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On the other hand there was a very enterprising local cashing in on the need for someone to take your picture without handing your camera to a stranger.
A printer round his neck and a CD burner strapped to his back, this guy was very cool. No need for speaking either as he had covered the remaining parts of his body with his services in different languages.
We both thought this was the kind of idea our friend Mark would have, respect to the entrepreneurial mind.

Next was the Pantheon or as Kate kept calling it the "Parthenon" (wrong country dear) and our first decent Italian Coffee. It really does taste better.
It is so much different to our English variety that Kt (not a coffee drinker) was happily supping expresso all day.
My particular favorite has to be a Cafe lungo which is like a normal expresso but pulled in a different way making it smoother and more flavoursome.
Monday morning Nescafe will no doubt be very disappointing after this week.

Before i get in trouble ... The smoke kt is holding is just for the cosmopolitan effect

We spent the rest of the day walking round (a lot) and got lost more than a few times which I'm sure will become a theme.

Finished off the day with some pasta at a "local" risturante.
The food was very nice indeed (but maybe because we hadn't eaten properly for over 14 hours). The wine was basic stuff but very drinkable indeed and seemed to be on tap.
We felt wholly ignorant with our lack of lingo (was not a tourist type place, no English) and the owner seemed pretty miffed but became a lot friendlier after we struggled out our 3 Italian words.
In contrast he seemed to get more and more miffed with an American couple who would "speak to him in I-talian"
It seemed a recurring theme in Rome that they preferred you to try a little how ever badly than to confidently speak whole sentences with a bad accent.
Humility & stupidity vs Arrogance?

Well I can't say much else as I don't even remember getting back to the hotel. Kate blames the wine but i prefer to think it was all the walking tired me out.