andiamo a roma

After a flight filled with people speaking a language that is no longer foreign to us we've arrived in our new country of residence. Upon checking in at our beautiful hotel there was a prompt nap during which we received no fewer than two phone calls (hi mom!) and an "oops" bellman entry. After the nap we both felt -and still feel- a combination of enebriated and uncoordinated and so took a walk to the Spanish steps for air and exercise.



The streets were crowded with shoppers, tourists, smokers, fashionistas and more smokers. We enjoyed the people watching and managed to find our way back to the hotel. But not before running into a renegade group of Italians in safari wear who were shooting a short digital film on the sidewalk. And there were other groups wearing the same ensemble and seemingly participating in a similar project. I am convinced that only the Italians can walk the cosmopolitan streets of Rome wearing khaki safari gear and rocking the look. We had gym shoes on and felt not half as cool as them. Nice.



Our hotel is gorgeous by the way. It's across the street from the embassy and features gorgeous furniture, a roaring fireplace, and staff who indulge our desires to speak Italian. Perfect! The stairway is featured above - spiraling upwards - and is the central feature of the building.



There are also some very small cars here. The tiny smidge of a vehicle pictured barely reaches Steve's chest -- tiny, tiny, tiny. And somewhat space age as well.

Tonight we've been promised an introduction to nutella pizza... who are we to say no to that? Ciao!