Day 1 - The Coolest Guy In The Room

My Take On Rome

If the great cities of Europe got together for a party, Rome would be the coolest guy in the room. Cool, calm and confident in the fact that he's, well....Rome. The other cities would sense it and try to impress him. Paris would say "We have a magnificent Catherdral that's over 1000 years old called Notre Dame."

"That's cool," Rome would respond in a self-assured, mildly cocky way. "We have St. Peter's Basillica, which is about 1500 years old, and the Vatican too - which is where the boss of the guy at Notre Dame lives. If you're ever in Rome look me up and we'll check it out."

"We have Wembley Stadium which is considered one of the great sports and entertainment venues of the modern-day world," London would offer to the conversation in hopes of impressing. "We have hosted The Spice Girls in concert and David Beckam playing football."

"Hey I've heard of that," Rome would counter. "We have a pretty cool place like that too. It's called the Colloseum. It about 2000 years old. I mean we've never had Posh and Becks, but guys used to fight lions and tigers in there. A couple of million people a year still visit...and nobody even plays there anymore. So if you're ever in Rome look me up and we'll check it out."

Here's the problem for Paris & London if they ever visited Rome. The Brit would wind up passed-out drunk on the couch and the Frenchman would storm off, pissed off about something...and Rome would wind up with both of their girlfriends. Why? Well because he's Rome...and women can't resist the coolest guy in the room! (Io capisco! hahaha)

The weather has not cooperated on Day 1. It's overcast and cold with itermitent rain. I planned to go to the Colloseum today, but nixed the plans because of the weather. Intent on not letting the day go to waste, I set about surveying the area around the Colloseum and Forum, which are not too far from our hotel. Unfortunately, the rain came down near the Circus Maximus, and we still had a hike back to the hotel. Through the cold wind-driven rain, I mushed my mom like I was Yukon Cornellius and she made it back only slightly weathered. She's a tough bird.

One of the true treasure of Europe is the out-of-the-way alleyways that have great little places to eat and have a drink. To make up for sludging her through the rain, I bought my Mom dinner at a little Ristorante in one of those alleyways behind our hotel. We both had pizza with a paper thin crust that was delicious. They gave us liter of house wine that drank like grape juice. It was just the tonic we needed to warm up from the mini-Iditarod and fuel ourselves for tomorrow's adventure at The Vatican and St. Peter's Basillica.