Our First Morning in Rome

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (Part 1)

What a day! We landed at the Rome Airport at 6:40 a.m. (a few minutes early). We met up surprisingly easily with my Dad. But then it took an inexplicably long time for our luggage to come off the baggage carousel. Perhaps the delay was a tiny reminder that we are, after all, in Italy. Once our bags arrived, we then sought out the taxi driver Dad had arranged in advance. How nicely that worked out! It was very nice to have a ride waiting for us and for a fair price that had been agreed to in advance.

Additionally, he knew exactly where we were going so we didn't have to worry about effectively communicating directions to him. He was a very nice man, and Dad enjoyed speaking with him (in Italian) about his family.

We arrived at our hotel, the Fontanella Borghese, fairly quickly. It is located in the Rotunda quarter of Rome not too far from the Spanish Steps (due east) and the Pantheon (due south). I chose this hotel because it is the sister hotel to the Hotel Due Torri where we stayed in September 2009, and I liked its location. Unfortunately, we arrived so early in the day that our rooms were not yet ready for us. So we had to leave our bags in the lobby and "hit the streets." It was still early -- only about 8:30 a.m. -- so we sought out a cafe where we could get a light breakfast and we used the time over breakfast to regroup and develop a plan.

We decided to head towards the Campi di Fiori, which means "field of flowers." The Campo di Fiori is the site of a farmers' market most mornings of the week, and today was no exception. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we enjoyed moving through the stalls and admiring the flowers, fruits and vegetables, including lemons the size of grapefruit, and many other strange but wonderful produce I could not even name. Also on display were olive oils, vinegars,

spices, dried fruits, pastas, olives, and much, much more. It was a lively, fun place.