Getting Acclimated in Rome

We left Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, June 14th and arrived in Rome on Wednesday morning around 11:00 AM Italy time. We had a very smooth trip, which we really appreciate as we know how busy the summer travel season is. Instead of going directly from LAX to Rome, we split up the flights and did the first leg to Chicago, had a one hour layover, and then the second leg from Chicago to Rome. Since there were no real delays, this worked out well.

We caught a limo ride from the airport to our Airbnb apartment in the heart of Rome near Piazza Navona. Our apartment is basic, but certainly adequate. It's a two bedroom, two bath with a small living room. We knew it would be best if we tried to push through the jet lag and stay up until a normal bed time. But, as usual, it was tough to stay awake after our late lunch. All of us ended up going to sleep at about 4 pm and pretty much slept all the way through to the next morning.

Day one in Rome was just about getting acclimated -- no major planned activities. We just grabbed breakfast and walked around. We started out in a beautiful outdoor marketplace called Campo Di Fiori. We ate breakfast at a great spot right on the square called Obica. Though this restaurant is a chain, it is excellent. Susan and I remembered eating a late lunch there last time we were in Rome and it was some of the best Mozzarella we had ever had. It's amazing what jet lag can do to your appetite. The kids were absolutely starving and it was only 8:30 am.

Here's the crew in front of the Pantheon after our post-breakfast stroll.  It's quite warm in Rome right now -- about 75 to 80 degrees and mostly sunny with a little bit of humidity.

Pictured here above is Piazza Navona, which is right near where our apartment is located. It's a very large public square with some amazing sculptures and an intricate fountain in the middle. Along the edges there are at least 10 or 12 different restaurants. As you walk past these restaurants, sometimes the aggressive seating hosts try to pull you in. We have learned that if a restaurant needs to literally pull customers in, it's probably not too good!

Day Two - Friday, June 17th

Today is our second full day in Rome. We decided to go ahead and get up early since we were still jet lagged and wide awake at 5 am. Today, Susan and I went on a 'power walk' around the heart of Rome. We headed toward the Colosseum and The Forum and snapped a few photos. One of the most distinctive and dramatic features of the area is the 'Alta De La Patria.' This huge monument dominates the skyline and, we are told, was completed in 1925 as a monument to Victor Immanuel, the first King of a unified Italy.

Rome can be a bit hard to navigate as it's not set up as a grid. The streets run every which way and often diagonally. We tried using the map features of our phones to guide us, but we didn't learn until after a few hours that you need to have it set to walking vs. driving to get the right kind of directions . . . duh! So our planned 1 hour walk turned into a 2 hour walk this morning!