Rome, Italy - Travel Scrapbook
Danny and Simone's Travel Scrapbook of Rick Steves' 7-Day Best of Rome (and a little Paris too)
Day 1: Welcome to Rome
We'll get together for introductions around 3 p.m., take a walk through the neighborhood, and have a city orientation, followed by dinner together. Walking: moderate.
WELCOME TO ROME
We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and transferred to Air Alitalia from Air France. The flight was late leaving for Rome. The group was to meet at the Hotel Aberdeen, but we knew in advance our flight would not put us there in time. We’d already notified the Rick Steves tour department and asked the guide to leave the restaurant name and address at the front desk so we could meet up with them for dinner.
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We arrive in Rome and purchase one-way train tickets to Termini Station (main train station). We start using Rick's advice right away -- shadow a local to cross streets in Rome...otherwise plan to be stranded on street corners. The traffic is heart stopping. Using the directions from Rick Steves’ tour department, we walked to Via Firenze. Seeing a group huddled together, I asked Danny if they looked like Ricniks. |
| Train Ticket into Rome |
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We find Hotel Aberdeen at 48 Firenze after first passing it and backtracking.
The desk attendant said we had just missed the group (they were Ricniks). |
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Simone standing in front of Hotel Aberdeen |
We go in the Santa Maria della Vittoria then the group walks to Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (a Baroque church) part of the former Roman Baths of Diocletian now a church. I’ve taken eleven pictures so far, and my camera freezes and forces me to turn off the camera or format the memory card. Since I’m at the beginning of my trip, I reformat losing those first eleven pictures.
Lisa leads us on a short walking tour as we make our way to our first dinner together at Target restaurant.
Lisa points out neighborhood spots as we pass the police station, a park, convenient ATM machine, and supermarket.
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We pop inside the Metro for a quick overview of the subway system. |
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Rome's Metro system |
We used the Metro, both the subway and bus, extensively during our week in Rome.
Used transit tickets
The group experienced a wonderful first Italian dinner at Target. One course was a pasta in a cheese sauce that was divine.
During dinner, Lisa gives the group a preview of tomorrow. Danny and I leave before coffee as we are totally jet-lagged and dog tired.
Back in our room, we get ready for bed. I unpack while Danny uses the bathroom first. He comes out and asks "what is that thing like a toilet"? I respond, "well, if you'd read any of Rick's books, you would know what it is. It's a bidet".
"Oh", Danny says. He goes back into the bathroom and comes out again. "What do you use it for?" Since, I've just about memorized Rick's book, I say "you use it to wash the parts that rub together when you walk -- You straddle, squat, soap up and swish off."
Danny's still looking quite puzzled, but he goes back into the bathroom and comes out one more time. "How do you use it?", he asks. By this time, I'm ready to go to bed and I encourage Danny to try the bidet out since he's so curious about it. I don't think he did, but now he knows what a bidet is and what it is used for.
We pass out the split second our heads hit the pillow.
Breakfast at Hotel Aberdeen starts at 7am and we are to meet as a group to leave for our first full day together at 8:30am.
