First Day

"Welcome to Rome!" I did a double-take when the flight-attendant finally said these words... and cracked a grin when I heard them a minute later in Italian. I'm still wondering how I got here.

I'm sitting in a convent in Rome. I flew over the Alps, the white-capped Mediterranean, the sculpted Italian countryside, and after 9 hours of flying and two on-board "meals" of suspicious-looking substances, we landed in Rome. To be honest, I probably shouldn't be writing a post tonight in my jet-lagged (running on 2 shaky hours of sleep and multiple cups of coffee) state, but I had to throw some pictures up here. Aside from long lines in the airport and iffy food, our flight was smooth and uneventful. Moving anywhere in a group of 18 people is cumbersome to say the least, but we made it through passport control, customs, and baggage claim relatively unscathed. By the time we made it to our shuttle bus, we were sweating in 80 degree weather, but completely awed by the city we encountered.

...I mean, check that out. It's just so beautiful, and that's just a brief sampling of a random street. The colors of the buildings are just the colors that I would have picked for Italy, if that makes any sense. We drove past sienna villas with high garden walls, terra-cotta apartment buildings, and cobblestone streets lined with cypress trees. I kind of flipped out when we saw palm trees--it makes me especially excited for our beach trip to the Mediterranean next Friday! I think I was most surprised by the ruins of old bridges and aqueducts that are simply everywhere. 

These particular arches were part of a larger, original wall that is pretty old by the looks of it (not going to hazard a guess at a century quite yet... hopefully I'll be more educated by the end of this trip), and the local buses are just driving around and under it. It's this wonderful juxtaposition of old and new, ancient and modern. 

Also, on my to-do list: buy a smartcar and park it JUST like this. :)

We had a full day of orientation once we arrived at the convent (pictures of that still to come), but after move-in and some introductory activities, we ended the day with our first gelato trip to "Gel'istre". We walked through the Roman streets as the sun was setting and dodged mopeds, little European cars, and adolescent Italians on our way... We arrived at the fresh-made gelateria, and I had dark chocolate (cioccolato), coffee (café), and nutella... it was just as delicious as it sounded. Perfect end to a mind-blowing day. Time for sleep!!