We arrived in Rome around 8 in the morning and got a shuttle to take us to the hotel.  It was only few bucks more than taking the train and we didn’t have to try to think much (which is good after a long international flight).  There were ruins everywhere we looked, and I was pretty excited to have finally made it to Rome.

We rested at the hotel before heading out for lunch- pizza at a nearby pizzeria.  I thought it was pretty good, it reminded me of the pizzas I make at home on the grill.  After lunch we stopped for some groceries and made our first visit to an Italian Pharmacia.  It’s very interesting checking out foreign pharmacies as they have things we don’t.  Went to the metro station to get an idea what to expect for tomorrow since we have to be in Piazzo Popolo fairly early.

Later, we went to Santa Maria Maggiore and sat through part of an Italian sermon.  I was anxious to have pasta in Italy, so we went to il Pasticucciola for dinner.  I had carbonara and it was very good.  (of course it was good, it was carbonara)  Practically had to fight off the guy trying to sell me a rose.  That got kind of aggravating, we were eating dinner.  Oh well, lots more of those guys to come.