La vita è bella, non?

Ciao Roma!  It was quite a journey to get here filled with visa issues and flight delays, but I finally arrived on Sunday morning and was greeted by a gorgeous, sunny and slightly warm day.  My friendly airport cab driver, Maurizio, gave me a quick driving tour of some Rome highlights, including the Roman Forum and the impressive, Colosseum on our way from Fiumicino into the center of Rome.  Maurizio wanted to buy me my first cup of Italian coffee, so we stopped to have a cappuccino at a cafe overlooking the Colosseum.

Once I ditched my many and massive suitcases at my hostel, I headed out to spend my first day wandering around Rome.  My first stop was Trevi Fountain, where I sat and ate some delicious pizza from a vendor in the piazza.


Compliments of my iPhone as I realized my camera battery was dead after I headed out. 



I then headed to the "close" Barberini metro stop, but (literally) wandered around in circles looking for the station. The upside-I now have seen all of the Trevi neighborhood. Once I found the station, I took the metro to the Vatican area where I was in search of the Gelateria dei Gracchi on Via dei Gracchi, claimed by the NY Times to be home of the "best" gelato, to have my first taste of Roman gelato.  The gelato proved to be delicious, although I will have to continue my field research to determine whether it was the best...

And that was my first day in Rome!  I am so excited to be here and continue to explore, eat and drink vino.  I am off to work at the UN, World Food Programme tomorrow, wish me luck!

Ciao!