Pasta & the Pope: Rome (Arriving/Day 1)

Hola todos (or should I say buongiorno?),

It's been just a few days since I left you last, but I have since recovered from food poisoning and repositioned myself across the country to NYC. (I slept on a friend's couch since all of my belongings are in a storage unit at the moment.)

And just as I was about to head to the airport, the adventure began a bit earlier than expected when my day bag broke. Like, the bag I was about to be using non-stop to get around daily. But I suppose it’s better for it to break before I start my journey than somewhere in the Tuscan countryside where my options are more limited. I hurried over to a TJ Maxx (*of course* I’m a #Maxxonista) and found an even better mini-backpack with a ton of space.

Norse Airlines, the discount airline I was using to get to Rome (you won’t believe how little I paid for my tickets!) has no online check-in process. Which means the line at the airport gets *really* long. You must go in-person so they can verify your bag size, even for carry-ons and personal items. They’re the strictest airline I’ve seen when it comes to size restrictions. The real trick, now, would be to get my two bags passed off as one and within the bag size limits. Or so I thought.

But as I was checking in, I was surprised to find out my ticket included both a carry-on and a personal item! I definitely didn’t pay for an upgrade and thought I’d only have a personal item, so I'm not sure how I got so confused about that. But I was so excited to not have to shove everything in so small a space—that mini-backpack would come in so handy now!—and I’d now have room for souvenirs. People in front of me were having to pull stuff out of their bags and put on extra layers, etc. I had just "discovered" a cubic foot or more of space. This trip was off to a great start!

I arrived at the gate with an hour to spare and boarded without complications. I didn’t pay to pick my seat (#BabeOnABudget) and was assigned a middle seat. But after the plane was fully boarded, there was no person in my row’s aisle seat, so I shifted over to get some leg room and space to sleep.

The flight departed at 12:30 a.m., so I promptly crashed and tried to sleep as much as possible. It wasn’t the best sleep of my life, but when I woke up 7.5 hours and 4500 miles later, we were preparing to land in Italy! (Good thing I didn’t pay extra for the meal service… I slept right through it, twice.) My body thinks it’s the morning, it’s actually midday, and by the time I get to my hostel and eat something, my first meal will be dinner. Who knows if I’ll sleep tonight. My poor body clock.

After another super quick and easy immigration process, I set off to figure out how to get into the city. My plan initially was to take a train, but upon arriving at the station connected to the airport, it appeared that most of the trains to downtown Rome had been cancelled. An overhead announcement made it seem like it was due to construction work at the main Rome train terminal, so who knew if that was ever going to resolve itself. [Editor's note: It turned out to be major electrical infrastructure failure, and cancellations affected train service nationwide. Yikes!] But I needed to get to the city (and you know I was *never* going to pay for a taxi). So I quickly hopped onto the WiFi and bought a bus ticket through a local company. It was about €10, was leaving in 20 minutes, and would allegedly get me into the city center within an hour. Perfect. 

It was easy enough to find my bus and begin the drive into and through Rome.

The beautiful green countryside gave way to a blend of the modern and the ancient. Cobblestone streets and old European architecture but with cars and brightly lit signs for caffetterias.

I finally got to Rome Termini station (about 2.5 hours later), the main Rome train station and the stop near my hostel. I walked to the hostel and checked out the neighborhood in the daylight (it’s always good to get a sense of your bearings!) and got checked in. I had to quickly drop off my bags before heading off into the main city—I had dinner reservations to catch!

I walked to the nearest metro station and got a metro card (always a fun souvenir) and made my way into the heart of the city center.

Dinner was at Fraschetteria. And while it mattered that I had reservations (they turned away walk-ins since their footprint was so small), the timing of my reservation apparently meant nothing… I waited another 45 minutes outside for a table to clear before the host finally decided just to prop me up along a countertop since I was a solo diner. Ah well, I guess I’m starting dinner at 8 p.m. like the locals. But I basically skipped lunch for the time zone change and I’m *starving*!

 

At least the view while I waited was picturesque.

Dinner was delicious wine, some sort of starter bruschetti that included a spreadable salami and truffle honey, and pasta carbonara. The first of what I expect to be many pasta dishes this trip.

I decided to walk back to the hostel to walk off the heavy meal, expecting to catch a bus part of the way back. But the night was perfect for walking around and the walk was scenic and it was quicker than I thought to get back to the hostel.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow--the city already seems much more manageable than New York and you can hardly walk one block without stumbling into one iconic masterpiece or another. And on my first night here, no fewer than three people asked me for directions. I guess I give off "Italian woman" vibes and, honestly, I’ve never been so complimented in my life.

Besos,

Tina the ExploraDora

Cumulative steps: 17,065