April 14th, arrival day in Rome

We arrived in Rome on time, somehow making up in the air the time we had lost on the runway in Philadelphia. Fortunately, Joe had packed sleeping pills and once in the air, we each took one. Although I don’t remember sleeping much, we must have, because the flight of 8 hours went by fairly quickly. We retrieved our luggage and met our driver from Rome Cabs, who looked at our two, very large bags in consternation. She and Joe managed to fit one in the trunk of her Mercedes, and the other next to her in the front seat. After a 20 or 30 minute drive at a high rate of speed, we arrived at our home for the next five nights, Hotel Ponte Sisto on via Pettinari, across from the Ponte Sisto bridge.

Hotel Ponte Sisto turned out to be a perfect location, very close to Trastevere and a 10-15 minute walk to Piazza Navona. The lobby offered a lounge area with several sofas and chairs, and adjoined a large courtyard area with patio furniture covered by awnings. The room was very nicely appointed, with a king size bed, nightstands on either side, a desk and a spacious closet, all in a beautiful, dark wood. The bedding was ivory and luxurious, and mono-
grammed with the hotel’s logo.





The bathroom was tiled in a marbled dark green and was spacious, especially by European standards. The bidet went unused, one of those European things us simple Americans can’t figure out. The hotel offered breakfast until 10:00, and that’s where we started our day each morning. The buffet was ample, with plenty of coffee and juice, eggs, croissants, fresh fruit, proscuitto, cereal and more.

We decided to follow the common advice about jet lag – just ignore it and carry on. After unpacking our clothes and changing into a clean outfit, we set off in the direction of Trastevere, the area “across the Tiber”. This area of Rome is heavily populated with young people, and at night it becomes the happening spot for those 25 and under to hang out. One day while sitting alfresco at an internet café having lunch, a group of American students studying in Rome congregated here, trying to decide where to go to celebrate one of their birthdays. Ah, youth. At night, there are throngs of young people sitting on steps, congregating in piazzas, spilling out of nightclubs onto the sidewalk.

Trastevere seems to be a more authentic type of Roman area, a neighborhood part of Rome and yet set apart too by its location across the river. It’s a maze of narrow, cobblestone alleys called vicolo. At home, we would never consider driving down such a narrow way but here, you must constantly be on the lookout for motorbikes and Smart cars. It wasn’t unusual in Rome to see pedestrians standing flat against a wall in order for a car to pass by.

After looking at the map, trying and failing to figure out how to get to the Santa Maria church, we stopped someone and asked. He pointed us in the right direction and we came into the piazza, where several people were sitting at the base of the fountain of Piazza di Santa Maria. We then went into our first church in Rome, the first of many, many more to come.


Santa Maria is a medieval church and probably the first official Christian church to be built in Rome, at a time when Christianity was still a minority occurrence. Above the portico are statues of four popes decorating the balustrade. Above this is a mosaic showing Mary feeding the baby Jesus.

After this, we wandered the streets for awhile, absorbing the Roman atmosphere. We then stopped for refreshment at Ombre Rosse in the Piazza Sant’Egidio, sitting at an outside table. I ordered wine but Joe felt like beer. It wasn’t easy trying to figure out what beer to order, as the waiter barely spoke English and had a difficult time trying to convey the differences among the beer. Finally, Joe just pointed at one of the items, unsure of what he was getting. We also ordered proscuitto panini, the first of many to come. As we sat, we greatly enjoyed watching the passers-by, and all those who stopped to browse at the seller’s tables in front of us. I was elated to be drinking wine and eating panini al fresco in Rome! What I had planned for months was finally here, and my feet, for the first time, had set foot in Europe. Needless to say, I was exhilarated.

After our rest, we headed back over the Ponte Sisto, past our hotel, and onto Piazza Navona. We first came onto the Fontana del Moro, then continued along the piazza. Disappointingly, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was covered with scaffolding, so we could only catch glimpses of it.



We then walked to San Luigi dei Francesi to admire Caravaggio’s three paintings of St. Matthew in the 5th chapel. This one is St. Matthew and the Angel.


We had our first Roman dinner at Ditriambo near Campo de Fiori. It is a small restaurant with about 12 tables. It became almost comical as the door continued to be opened throughout the evening by those trying to get in without a reservation. For the primi piatti I had salt cod ravioli with chickpeas. I believe Joe had veal with polenta. I really don’t remember the rest. After dinner, we went in search of gelati, and came upon Blue Ice. Every day thereafter, often twice a day, we ordered gelati. My two favorites were tiramisu and banana.

After enjoying our gelati – another first for me – we strolled toward the amazing Pantheon, its façade softly lift in the evening.

Thus concludes our magical first day in Rome.