Sarah's First Day in Rome
The B&B was picked by me for location...location...location... Right by the Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti). Left backpacks and bags at All'Obelisco and immediately started taking pictures, walked down the Spanish Steps lined at the bottom with all the big-name designer stores. Dior, Prada, etc., with their stratospheric prices. ...View image... They actually have to gall to put prices in the windows. Probably deters riff-raff like us from setting foot in the stores. A pair of mini-shorts for 1,500 Euros? That's $2,300 U.S. Dollars at today's conversion! These places are only for the Paris Hiltons of the world.
Instead of Fendi, McDonald's down the street. Sarah was hungry. She said her stomach was telling her dinner time but McDonald's didn't start serving until 10:15 am. That was okay. We just hung out and waited for them to fire up the fryers. By the way, if you every need a toilet in any country, McDonald's is the place to go. Always clean bathrooms. A caveat: In some countries, you must eat there and show your receipt to use the bathrooms. Must show it to a guard. (Just so you know before you go.)
The 138-step stairway climbs a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti at the top. We did a lot of huffing and puffing up and down these 138 steps. There is a fountain in the Piazza at the base called La Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the Old Boat").
Stop number two...an ATM. Don't leave home without it even though banks are imposing all kinds of surcharges. You should have seen the deplorable rate currency exchanges were giving. It was still cheaper to use the ATM. Sarah had eaten her French Fries...we had Euros...time to head back to the B&B and crash.
Our room was ready. Pretty nice-sized for a European B&B. Unpacked, Grandpa and I immediate laid our weary bodies down for a short nap. Sarah insisted she wasn't tired. Plugged i-Pod into ears, and took our a book to read. The next thing I knew, her i-Pod crashed to the floor and both she and Grandpa were asleep. Not me.
Up by 2:00 pm to head back out. Now, it was raining. Good thing I brought two collapsible umbrellas and insisted on light rain jackets. The umbrella sellers immediately took to the streets hawking umbrellas and probably made a killing. Maps in hand, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain in a sea of umbrellas but Sarah decided to wait for a nice day to throw her coins in the fountain.
Then wandered around looking for the Piazza Navona and got hopelessly turned around. Since it was still raining, a little shopping was in order for Sarah to buy presents for Mom, Dad, brother (Josh) and very good friends. She came with $250 U.S. Dollars to spend. Not happy when we explained that her $250 U.S. only converted to 159 Euros. A fast and painful lesson in currency conversion
La Rinascente Department Store turned out to be the place where she did almost all her shopping. The salespeople were very nice, helpful and Sarah came away with really nice Murano earrings for her friends and a present for Mom.
Sarah insisted we take a photo of one lone car between all the motorcycles (Vespas?)...just like in "Lizzy McGuire" so here it is....and it was cute...
That was enough. I don't know about her, but I was exhausted. We found a little self-service pizzeria a few blocks from the Spanish Steps, ordered some Pizza Margherita (Sarah is vegetarian) and wine and Gelato and called it a day.
One of our B&B's big selling points was the fact they offered FREE INTERNET. There are only three rooms in All'Ob which meant no problems tying up the computer. Instant Messaging! What did we do without it? Sarah spent the next hour I.M.'ing back and forth to Mom and Dad and a few friends on-line. That made her happy and made us happy. By now readers, you're probably thinking ..."That's all they saw?"... Our goal was for her to absorb a different culture, some history and HAVE FUN doing it!
Sarah and I are going to sleep together in the big bed while Grandpa sleeps alone in the smaller bed. We have a full day planned for tomorrow but there is still a 50/50 chance of rain again. What will tommorrow bring?....
