As it turns out, italian men are incredibly nice

IM HERE!!!!

I just thought I should start with that because it's important. Now, we all know I have penchant for overpacking; Stuart and Chris can attest to the fact that I did not disappoint on this  trip and my suitcase was exactly 50.00 lbs. In addition, unlike American mass transport, Italy feels that stairs create a healthier population and so escalators are few and far between. And yet, I did not drag Hilda up even one set of stairs. Rather a series of very kind gentlemen toted it up for me, without even offering me the chance to refuse. In fact, the whole adventure over has convinced me that Rome is the nicest city I have ever been to.

To get to my room from the Airport, I had to hop on an express train into the city, stop and change trains, then ride into another depot, switch again, and then walk the rest of the way. I made my first new friend on the express train; a girl from Florida who was in Rome for an internship after extending her semester abroad here. She helped me figure out the Subway/Train system which is FAR more complex than my travel guide map implied. She goes home in July so she gave me her map of the city saying it deserved to be passed on.

Then, an italian gentleman named Marco, who had been listening in, made sure I got off at the right stop, and since the station does not directly connect to the other trains, guided me all the way to the metro, helped me buy a pass, carried it up three flights of stairs, down two, and made sure I made it to the right train. Once I got off at the correct Station, San Giovanni, another man carried my bag up to street level and pointed me in the right direction.

It was a long excursion but I already know a little italian:

molte grazie: thank you very much
prego: dont mention it
non parlo italiano: i dont speak italian
ripetere: repeat that?
parlare piu lentamente: speak more slowly?
and bon giorno/arrivaederci: hello/good bye

My room is wonderful and the hosts are nice plus, check out my room key!

I completely missed the time I was supposed to meet-up with my friends so I am going to postpone it and enjoy rome by myself for the rest of the day. I'll get cleaned-up first, grab some lunch and maybe an authentic caffe macchiato to keep me going. Pictures to follow.

Chelsea