After my flight and the hour wait for passport (wait, let me
pause to talk to a buddy and sip coffee) control and my luggage, I was
dragging. I looked like garbage in my travel clothes (athletic pants and a
T-shirt as comfort is king on an 8-hour-flight), and I was in need of a bed. I
went straight to the hotel and took the only room they had ready three hours
before checkout, a smoking and handicapped accessible king room that smells
like a bar in 1997. On the plus side, I can smoke my Cuban cigar in the room. 
I went to sleep from 9:30 until 2:15. Then I got dressed and
was on my way into the center of Rome by 3. I got to Roma Termini right around
4 and then I roamed Roma like a ravishing Roman. I visited the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseo, the Roman Forum, the Monumento nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy , the Spanish
Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. I was on my way
back to the hotel by 7, so all of that was done in three hours.
I also found ancient obelisks that, if my knowledge is
correct, were taken from Egypt during past conquests.
Thank goodness I had been walking so many 5Ks in the weeks
leading up to the trip. My feet are still hurting, but I was able to do most of
the travel on foot today.
Tomorrow morning I’ll pick up the rental car and tackle the last leg of my trip, the 4 hour ride to Campomarino and my residence for the next 5 weeks. Once I get Internet up and running, I will make more posts. My email is up and running on my phone (that was a great surprise).
