12 Days In Italy

Day 3 Part 1 - A Tour of the City (7/22/2019) This first post will mainly involve the first bit of the day at the coliseum.  Basically we toured the city starting with the coliseum and then moved across town by bus to the Vatican.  I'll walk you through the first bit of the tour and then the next post will continue bit by bit until we wrap up the day. We woke early, around 7:30 to get ourselves through breakfast and a taxi ride to our meeting place for the tour.  We popped into I Dolci Di Checco , a local spot within meters of our doorstep for a Cappuccino (they had decaf for Cindy also), a vegan Croissant, a pizetta (mini pizza) and a panino (a little sandwich).  Breakfast for two at 7,20 Euro - not bad.  The folks were at first a little confused by us.  I had little confidence so I wasn't speaking up and the owner was probably a little frustrated with my ignorance of how to use the language properly.  Another patron would echo me - when ...

Day 2 - Inauguration Ceremony and Reception (7/21/2019) We had flown overnight without much sleep, departing on 8/19 and arriving in Rome on 8/20 as detailed in my Day 1 post.  We slept for almost 16 hours that first night, waking at 2pm (8am in our minds) to the realization that the ceremony we were attending started at 3:30.  We readied ourselves and made our way to Piazza Trilussa right out in front of our apartment.  The piazza was named after Carlo Alberto Salustri , a well-known Roman poet of the early 20th century.  I grabbed a slice of pizza from Pizza Trilussa on the street right near our front door (in Piazza Trilussa - a little tongue-twister if you like).  The person running the place folded it in half and wrapped it in paper before handing it to me.  While I am not a "folder" when it comes to pizza it was very easy to handle the way it was served and I appreciated the difference in presentation as we walked (4,80 Euro for that and a bott...

Day 1 - Travel and Trastevere (7/19-20/2019) First of all let me say that I'm not a regular flier by any means.  This was my second flight ever - but I'm quickly becoming a learned traveler as I explore the routine of flight and travel.  I'm lucky enough to have an experienced partner and she helps me with the essentials (don't pack anything over 3.4 oz. and you really don't need 12 pairs of pants for 12 days in Italy if you have a laundry service in the middle - that kind of thing).  I'll share with you what we did for this trip and maybe it will help when you decide to visit any of these places yourself. We took a direct flight from Charlotte, NC to Rome, and while unusual, it's possible to find if you are flexible on your arrival and departure dates (and how much you want to spend).  With no layovers we were in the 10 hour range both ways, give or take a half hour.  Headed there we left in the evening (I didn't sleep at all because I was exc...