Day 1 in Rome

Wow what a day and where should I start.

Today actually started off yesterday with our flight to Rome delayed for about 1 hour 20 minutes in Boston due to weather. We left Boston at 8pm.

After no sleep for me on the plane (Amy got about 3 hours), we landed in Rome at about 10 am local time.

Coming thru passport control took another 30 minutes. There were about 40 school kids and each one had to get their password stamped.

Then we were bombarded by "You need a Taxi?" We read and were told that it should be 45-50 euros. Everyone, when we asked, said that it would be between 75-80 euros. We knew to beware of the scammers but its hard to tell who is the honest taxi drivers and who were not. We eventually found a desk where we could get on a shuttle for 32 euros and only had to wait about 30 minutes or so.

The shuttle ride was a completely different story. The driver must of been related to Mario Andreddi (I know its misspelled). These drivers in Rome are crazy. I thought I was an aggressive driver. After going about 95 miles an hour on the highway (I know this because of my gps), the side roads were worse. Apparently, if you drive a moped or motorcycle, you can ignore all rules of the road. They would just weave in and out of traffic. And the driver of our shuttle acted like he didn't even see 'em.

We finally made it to our hotel. Amy took a shower and I decided to wait. We met up with her parents and Jacob at 1:30.

Our first stop was for lunch. We then took off for Vatican City and St. Peters. We climbed all the way up (320 steps) to the top of the dome and stayed up there admiring the view and taking pictures for about 30 minutes. We toured the inside of St. Peters (found Pope Clement). By then it was evening and was time for dinner and then to bed.

I'll try to write more tommorrow. Its late and I haven't had any sleep since Saturday night...

I should have some pictures posted soon. The internet is only dialup and will take a while to upload. Besides its .15 euro per minute to use the phone..