I just returned from Rome yesterday. What a fun trip! As I mentioned previously, I went with my good friend, Christina. So from the beginning: We arrived in the early A.M. and settled into our temporary home away from home, Hotel Columbia. The hotel is located just blocks away from Stazione Termini, the largest station in Rome. I'd highly recommend staying there if you're looking for a clean, simple, inexpensive, conveniently located hotel. Breakfast is included, which was a plus. Having said that, breakfast isn't a big meal for Italians (what a shame!), so it is a simple meal they serve. But again, it's included, so it's all good. Since I'm highly paranoid of vermin of many kind...I can verify that I did do extensive research on bed bug sightings in hotels around Rome, and did a thorough investigation of my own (you can ask Christina...I did actually rip off all the sheets and checked under our mattresses) and felt confident we were going to be safe. After acclimating, we cleaned up and headed out. We ate at a restaurant right by Termini first. Pretty good food (I had gnocchi)...and I was reminded about one of the Italy-isms over there. You pay for bottles of water in restaurants...not like here, where your glasses are perpetually overflowing. And you are offered plain water or carbonated. After we hopped on the metro and headed to the Fountain of Trevi. How beautiful. One of, if not my favorite monument in Rome. But it's so hard to pick because the architecture is stunning everywhere. Not to mention all the twisting, narrow cobblestone streets. Anyway, we ate some great pizza, had some caffe latte and cappuccino, and hung out at the fountain. Christina had some Nutella gelato (as you can see in one of the photos), which would turn out to be her dessert of choice during the trip. After we walked all over, we stumbled upon the Coccinelle store, a utopia of leather handbags. Steve, Terry-a's husband, reminded me of this gem before we left, so I was definitely planning on getting myself something! I got a gorgeous grey leather and suede bag, and a blue clutch. Christina got herself a bag, too. At some point during the day we stumbled upon a church that was undergoing some renovations. The contrast between the construction and the old, intricate church decor was pretty dramatic. We then headed home after a long first day out. Phew.
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