Day 4: Rome!

We woke early around 7:30 so that we had time to shower, pack, and eat a nice leisurely breakfast by 9am. Our flight was for 12:20, but it takes about an hour to get there and we wanted to have at least two hours to get our boarding passes, check our bags, and go through security, which we were warned could take a while. As it turned out, we were right to be on the cautious side. Originally, Karl was going to take us directly to the airport in his car, but the bridge over the ocean from Sweden to Denmark was closed to all vehicles, and the train was our only option to make it across. He still drove us to the train station and was nice enough to buy our train tickets for us.

We made it to the airport in good time. I had to check both of my bags and pay an extra $30.00 because they said it wouldn’t fit in the overhead bins, which was slightly annoying, but ended up being nice because I could navigate the airport without dragging a suitcase behind me. We had an hour to spare before boarding after making it easily through security, so we stopped for lunch at a cute place called “Joe & the Juice,” which has really good smoothies and sandwiches. I have to say, though, that my favorite parts of the restaurant were not the food, but the design and the names of their smoothies. “Sex me up” and “King of Green” were just a few, and the artwork on the walls were fascinating.

Our flight left right on time. It was surprisingly empty, perhaps because it was a Sunday? In any case, take off was a bit bumpy due to the wind, but other than that the flight was completely enjoyable. We landed a whole half an hour early. As we were landing, and I got my very first aerial view of Italy: beautiful coastline, red terra cotta roofs…--my heart fluttered a bit. It was beginning to hit me that I was actually about to land in Rome, a city I had dreamt and learned about for years. Because our flight was so early, I think the plane had to doc in a different place, and we were all bused from the plane over to the airport. No waiting for luggage this time—our bags were some of the first to be unloaded, then it was off to find our transport. I had e-mailed the landlord for our apartment, Giacomo, and had arranged for a private taxi to pick us up. I am so glad we did, because it saved us a lot of stress. With all our bags, public transport would have been a bit hectic, and none of us had ever really hailed a taxi before,  not to mention we had been warned that there were lots of rip-off taxi services to watch out for. We found our transport almost right away, a short Italian lady holding a sign that said, “KNODEL.” We piled into her car (it was a bit tight, but we managed), and we were off to Rome!

Our driver was quite impressive, maneuvering the lanes like it was nothing, passing cars left and right. She got us there in no time, and the route she took couldn’t have been better planned. We knew we were entering the city because old ruins began to appear. Gradually, the architecture became much denser. Then, we went around a corner, and there was a glorious church on our left! Then around another bend, and another magnificent building was on our right! Going around a roundabout, we came upon a large, beautiful white marble monstrosity and my breath caught in my throat. Nicole started tearing up. None of us could refrain from sighing and exclaiming in utter amazement. We were in Rome at last, and as I knew it would, it exceeded all expectations. Nothing could have prepared me for the beauty of this city. I had no idea what any of the buildings were until we came upon the coliseum to our right, and to my great excitement our apartment soon after. We truly were in the heart of Rome.

Giacomo met us at the door and showed us to our apartment. We were on the third floor, so the views were beautiful, looking out over the city. We even had a balcony looking into an inner courtyard. I almost wish we could just stay here our entire time in Rome. It is in such a great location and so beautifully decorated.

After unpacking a bit, we had to go out to explore. Giacomo had given us a list of good restaurants to try, and we looked one up, which happened to be right around the corner from the Pantheon. It was already getting dark by the time we left, but we found our way quite easily. When the Pantheon came up on our left, we knew. Chills went down my spine as we gradually approached. I couldn’t believe my luck, that it was only my first night in Rome and I was about to walk into the Pantheon.

The doors were open; those glorious, towering, heavy doors, and what I saw as I entered simply can’t be explained in words. All I can say is, the Pantheon is much bigger and more magnificent in person than any picture can capture. Even though it was nighttime and there was no light streaming through the oculus, I really did feel as though I had entered another world. I’m not a very religious person, but I think that true religion must feel something like this.

We had our first dinner at a charming little restaurant down the street from the Pantheon that served really good pasta and pizza. Kristen and I both had an amazing pizza with artichokes, olives, prosciutto, eggs, and mushrooms. Nicole had a pasta dish with ham. Afterwards, we found a gelato shop. The one we chose definitely used fresh ingredients because my fig and walnut gelato was filled with chunks of real figs and walnuts. To make things even better, we enjoyed our dessert right in front of the Pantheon where a cellist was performing for the public. He was very talented, and the delicious gelato, cool air, and beautiful music were the perfect combination to make the ideal first night in Rome.

After our gelato, we wandered around for a while, coming across many spectacular churches, monuments, and other buildings that we didn’t know the name of. I didn’t take any pictures because I just wanted to soak up the experience and enjoy it. I should have plenty of time in the coming months to document my experiences. For now, I will just revel in my happiness.

I’m only a little ashamed to admit that we went back to the apartment pretty early, made some tea, and curled up on the bed watching magic shows on TV.