First Day in Italy, ROME!

I was almost going to tease you and not share where our final destination was, but I decided that would be cruel and jump right to it! We arrived in Rome, Italy, in the evening on Saturday, October 17th. We traveled with Gate 1 travel via an escorted tour so when we arrived at the airport in Rome we picked up our bags and then there was a driver waiting for us to take us to the hotel. There were two women who were also part of our group that rode with us and though we were all exhausted we were all so excited to take in the sights on the drive.  We got to the hotel and found out the orientation meeting was just ending...but we were just in time for dinner!

I truly feel that there is probably no better way to be welcomed to Italy than with food! We walked not 5 minutes to a restaurant near the hotel (no time to change or see our room, we got right down to eating) and enjoyed a meal that was part of the tour we had purchased.  There were multiple courses and wine and water.

We started with a simple pasta course that had a wonderful tomato sauce. Notice how the Italians coat the pasta with the sauce? They serve differently than we do.

Next was a salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette.

This course was scrumptious! Veal saltimbocca....a Roman dish where the veal is topped with prosciutto and sage.

We tried several desserts...but this tiramisu was so decadently good and creamy, it made Little Man (having it for the first time) an instant fan! 

After dinner and a brief talk with the tour manager Simone so we would know where info would be posted for us to know each day's schedule we returned to the hotel to get settled in for some much needed sleep.

It took us a few minutes to realize that the key MUST stay in the keyholder for the lights to work...if you want lights that is! It's a way to keep energy costs down while  guests aren't in their rooms.

We had 3 twin-size beds.

And a surprisingly large bathroom!

Complete with a bidet!

We quickly dressed for bed and I knit a few rows on the project I had chosen for the Italy trip before we all passed out and slept hard until morning!