Pearls in Rome, Day One (Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps)

It has been almost three weeks already (how can that be?!) since we returned from our amazing trip-of-a-lifetime Rome adventure, and I thought I'd share a few tidbits, (mostly pictures) before the details all become too hazy.  While we were in the Eternal City, we had very limited Internet access due to some service problems in parts of the city--which seemed a tad inconvenient at first but turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I believe, because it made us live in the moment, for the most part ignoring our iPhones.  (Mine became nothing more than a glorified camera for most of the time we were there!)

We flew out of NYC on the evening of Tuesday March 19. We were flying stand-by (a perk of my husband's airline job that isn't always the least stressful way to travel, but more often than not has worked out very well for us), and there was only one available seat up in business class...so my hubby, in his usual role as my hero, made me take it and he sat in the back in a much-less-comfy coach seat.

I had my pre-flight glass of champagne to calm my pre-flight jitters and settled in for the 8-plus hour flight.  (If you had ever told me when I was a young mama that I would one day actually fly with my husband across the ocean--more than once!--I would not have believed you; I never could have done this when my boys were little...but I'm sure glad I can do it now!)

This is just the hors d'oeuvre course I enjoyed on the way to Rome.  (Don't hate me!)

I was living my best life on the flight, eating great food and alternating between

 watching movies and reading a novel.  As usual, I did very little sleeping.

By the time we landed, took a train into the city, and got a taxi ride to our VRBO apartment on a narrow side street in Roma, it was about noon on Wednesday in that part of the world.

Wednesday, March 20:

At the airport.  I still couldn't believe I was actually in Rome!  (Had to pose in front of this sign for proof!)

Outside the door of our sweet, cozy little one-bedroom studio apartment.

Our little home-sweet-home for the week.

Our street!

I felt giddy when we got there!  (Very tired, but giddy!)

We unpacked and took a two-hour nap before heading over to the Pantheon (a short walk away) in the early afternoon, where we picked up a guided tour.

What I loved the most about the Pantheon (aside from the breathtaking ancient architecture) was learning how this once-pagan temple to the gods became a Catholic church filled with images honoring the Blessed Mother.

After the Pantheon tour, we did some walking and ended up in the Piazza Navona, where we sat at an outside table and had drinks and bruschetta--and did some people watching.

I loved the Piazza Navona.

Almost as much as I love this guy!

This was followed by a pasta dinner al fresco (I ordered spicy penne arrabiata and loved it!) and a trip to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

Oh, and I almost forgot: then there was GELATO for dessert, before heading back "home"!  My husband has flown to Rome hundreds of times for work, and he has a favorite gelato place, Giolitti's--which just happened to be right around the corner from our apartment (an easy place to stop on our way back each night, weary from a long day of walking thousands and thousands of steps on cobblestone streets and hankering for a treat.  How convenient!).

That was a perfect first day, because it wasn't overly strenuous and we were still getting used to the time change (five hours ahead of East Coast time).  While we were having our tour of the Pantheon, we signed up for two more tours with the same company: the Colosseum on Thursday, and the catacombs on Friday.  So stay tuned, dear readers.   More to come...

Ciao for now!