the first day and The First Day

7/17 the first day was spent in the air traversing 1/3 of the circumference of the Earth except for a brief repose at JFK, just long enough for Joe to leave behind Rick Steve's Guide to Italy with all the highlights and underlines Lyn had painstakingly marked (hurry to gate B-20 and it may be there yet). Hopefully some other travelers to the heart of Western Civilization may benefit from all of Steve and Lyn's work....

7/18 The First Day began when we arrived at Fiucimino Airport. After going through customs - which simply involved flashing our passports to a disinterested customs offical, we followed the icons to the train terminal, had a first exchange with locals to get a map and ticket (Joe - "Gratia" , Local - "Prego, I mean, You're welcome!"), hopped aboard the train on Track 2 and 30 minutes later we were wandering the streets of Roma, bags in tow, searching for our hotel. Thirty more minutes and we found ourselves at the Bettoja Hotel Nord Nuova - twenty five minutes longer than necessary if we had only realized how close it was to the train terminal!

By nine o'clock we were hitting the streets of Roma, maps and guidebooks in hand...