Dan and Illiana's arrival in Rome

The only times I am ever envious of short people are on airplanes. I am convinced that there is no such thing as a pleasant flight across the pond, however TAP Portugal did a much better job with Illiana and I than they did with Rhonda. We left the house Wednesday night and visited with my wonderful brother Dave and his family. The following morning Dave took 4 hours out of his busy schedule to drive us to Miami for our flight (thanks again bro).

Two flights and 13 hours later we end up in Rome. Next we take a crazy cab ride through the tight ancient labyrinth of streets in my favorite part of Rome, Trastevere, where we are dropped off at the door of the apartment building we are staying at.

What to do now?  We contemplated taking a nap, but we are in Rome again, how could we possibly just lie down?  Instead we have a cup of tea and set out on a "little" walk. Two blocks from the apartment we find an art supply store. I wish the stores in the states were half this complete.








More wondering around and we recognize the area.  Three right turns and two lefts later we are standing in front of the Pantheon.
This isn't the first time I have seen this marvelous building (and I sure hope it's not the last).  Like so many things in Rome, this building has an aura that always stops you in your tracks.
  



We wondered around a few more hours where we came across the Spanish steps, Column of Marcus Aurelius (another stunning masterpiece) which sits in the middle of the Piazza Colonna.
Illiana was surprised and excited when we stumbled upon her favorite clothing store which they don't have in Florida. Going to the one in Barcelona was her top priority of things to do in Spain since she didn't know there was one in Rome. Something tells me we are still going to the one in Barcelona.

After dinner and GELATO, another wonder of Italy, we headed back to the apartment. Our "little" walk turned into a 6 hour journey, but not only was it the perfect start of our trip (aside from missing Rhonda and Nate) it also wore us out enough for a good night sleep. Hopefully we will be on Roman time in the morning.