Lingerie, leather and gelato

Well, my camera battery died (which, if you've been to Rome, is a travesty) so it made for an excellent excuse to come back to my tiny room and enjoy the AC for a bit.

My backpack luckily made it to Rome on my flight and once again no one wants to check or stamp my passport. Maybe I'm a nerd but I was really looking forward to all the different country stamps. Apparently once you're in the EU they don't really care who you are or where you go.

The airport in Rome was hilarious. I kept thinking of the sign in the Philly airport reminding you to only get in a licensed taxi and avoid scams. As I walked toward the taxi line I kept getting approached by men saying "taxi" but then realizing they were not in fact taxi drivers. Luckily I found a real taxi...and then the driver took out a map, turned off his meter and said €40. I don't know if I got scammed or not but I got where I was going.

I'm staying in a cute little place here literally around the corner from Trevi Fountain. My room is a 4th floor walk up with a slanty ceiling and the obligatory Mary & Jesus painting over the bed. I've hit my head a few times, I can't see my full body in the mirror and I have to squat on the floor to put my makeup on BUT my room has AC. Done and done. Breakfast is included here and there is an espresso machine. After last night's full night of sleep and my 2 shots of espresso this a.m. I might be awake til London.

Yesterday afternoon I wandered a bit. I kept catching myself giving Rome dirty looks. Not because it's bad but more like when a gorgeous smooth talking man approaches you in a bar/club and you think "ugh, yeah right. I know what you want" because it's just too perfect to be real. Sometimes you get to know him better and occasionally end up pleasantly surprised. That's Rome. Every corner I turned just in the vicinity of my hotel alone provided a new amazing view. The fact that the Pantheon was just there, in a plaza, waiting for me to look at it (and then eat gelato and look at it some more) is incredible. Even the Trevi Fountain and it's massive crowds was the same deal. How did it get here, why is it still here, how is it so magnificent?

I was beat yesterday. My options were to jump into the fountain or reinstate the siesta and come take a nap. Given what the Italian legal system seems to think of Americans, I chose the nap. I got up, showered, got dressed, walked around for a bit and realized all I wanted to do was chill, read and listen to music and SLEEP. So I did.

Today I walked up to the Spanish steps and then further up to Piazza del Popolo (where my camera died). I headed back down to charge it and along the way found a laundromat. Guess who's going to be doing laundry at 7:30 tomorrow a.m? I'm actually pretty excited, not gonna lie. My walk back along Via del Corso went like this: lingerie shop, leather (shoes, purses, etc.) shop, gelato, lingerie, lingerie, leather, Zara, gelato, gelato, pharmacy, leather, lingerie... Apparently, that (and some wine, pasta or espresso occasionally) is all you really need in Rome.

As soon as my camera tells me we're ready I'm going to make my way over to Piazza Navona, maybe find some lunch and some wine likely followed by some gelato. Then I'm probably dedicating the rest of my afternoon to the Colosseum and ancient Rome.

What do you call a siesta in Italy? Chances are I'm going to do that too.