Rome - We Have Arrived!

Our First Impressions of Rome

Emma: I wasn.t very comfortable at first, because there.s a lot of people that would steal luggage and cars won.t stop when you try and cross the road and things like that aside, and it didn-t help when a taxi driver asked for too much money. Now I.m okay with it, though, if I.m not carrying any valuables.

There is a LOT of graffiti but some of the buildings are very beautiful. And you can see old ruins of walls and such just driving down the street. I.m off to write in my journal.

Colleen AKA Coco: By the time we got to Rome we were all pretty tired. Macrina-Shirley with her determination question-asking and leadership helped us get some Euros finally at the airport and found out where to buy tickets for the train into Rome from the airport. In coming into town I loved seeing the scenery and old walls and brickwork. When we were ready to get a taxi i enjoyed Shirley-Macrina.s interchange with the taxi driver who said he would charge us what the meter said although shirley said she would pay him 12 dollars. There was much discussion amongst the taxi drivers, but we went with the first one, giving him 3 maps and directions. nevertheless he stopped three or four times to ask for directions and we saw that the meter read $9.80 at the end. he stopped the car and said we owed him $19.80 - $10 extra for his handling of the bags. We ended up paying him $15. It was a pretty interesting conversation between he and Shirley.

our room is charming. not what i expected, however, it suffices, and Shirley with her optimistic attitude has made this whole experience an adventure. The drivers in this city are appalling. Watch out, if you come. It felt like he was driving 60mph down a road only one car-width wide with people walking down the street and cars and motorcycles pulling in and out, stopping to ask directions again. When I asked him if people get killed here very often his only response was, "yes.". Of course his radio was loud enough for all the pedestrians and shop owners along the way to enjoy it. Rome is going to be a wonderful experience. Hopefully we will get some sleep now.

Basil: I want to go home!

Macrina: They covered it pretty well. We are staying in the San Lorenzo District, which is near the university and a college area. I am thrilled with our hotel. I much prefer this - a real Italian neighborhood - to hanging out in the tourist spots. We walked around several blocks and I learned how to use all 4 keys to get in and out.

Tomorrow we head out early in the day for a tour at the Collosseum and on to the Catacombs. Will report in more later. Sorry for all the typos. It took me no less than 15 minutes to figure out how to type in the @ sign so that I could use any of my accounts. Still haven.t mastered the Euro symbol and capitals. Can.t find the apostrophe at all!

Signing off in slightly muggy Rome at 9:30PM our time, and probably almost noon your time. We are definitely ready for it to be 9pm, though! Goodnight!