Arrival Day – May 6/08
We zipped through the Customs line at Fiumicino Airport, grabbed our luggage, and spotted our name on the sign held by Rome Cabs in less than an hour after landing. After conversing with our contact at Sleep in Italy in rapid Italian, Stefano offered friendly tourist advise while twisting in and out of Rome’s busy traffic. Delivering our luggage to the curbside of our apartment in the Vatican area, he presented us with a bottle of local wine, and wished us a happy holiday.

The knot of concern that had diminished at the sight of Stefano’s reliable appearance, spiked as minutes passed, and still no rep from the rental agency, Sleep In Italy. After an uncertain half an hour, we were rescued by an English-speaking resident of the building - a student from Texas going to university in Rome. To my amazement, this woman we have never met before, volunteered to use her cell phone to contact the rental agency on our behalf. My soaring hope plummeted yet again, when the guide finally arrived, apologizing for his limited English.

After the awkward apartment tour, we were dismayed to discover no kettle, and an ancient stove that needed to be lit. No one in our group smoked and we sweated this problem until my mother-in-law triumphantly discovered a lighter stick in the drawer

Eager to explore our temporary home for the week, we headed out to find one of the supermarkets that our Texas Angel had told us about. The supermarket was small; reminding me of a 7-Eleven so common in Canada, except this store was cramped and dusty. Coming back we checked out the local deli that supplied a number of Italian dishes and even fresh strawberries. Even with the ancient stove, my breakfast of cereal and fresh strawberries would be five-star.

Napping in one of three bedrooms we fought off sleep deprivation, and cursed my over-enthusiasm for our upcoming trip. Last month I had pre-booked a night tour with Roman Candle Tours. Presuming I would be riding high, but in reality, the thought of riding an unfamiliar bus, in a foreign city just sucked.

In the end I’m glad we refused to throw away our money, this tour was the highlight of our trip. We were the only guests that night and our guide, Brian was free to focus on our questions. With extra time he managed to fit in the Ghetto,Campo De’ Fiori and showed us a short cut to Trevi Fountain. A portion of that memorable tour came to be our ‘evening passeggiata’ in the upcoming week.

Our tour finished at Spanish Steps and we decided to brave Rome’s metro. The Vatican metro station eventually led to a shadowed Piazza Risorgimento that seemed even more unfamiliar in the dark of night. In the end Alan flagged a taxi. To add to our stress, we realized that our Canadian accent butchered our Italian street name. In the end we were forced to write down our street address on a scrape of paper supplied by a confused taxi driver. Our first night in Rome was full of helpful lessons to be used in the upcoming week.