Rome

Buon giorno!
We arrived in Italy bleary-eyed from a delayed 10-hour flight from Bangkok and were greeted at the airport by Rob from Australia, dressed as Magnum P.I. He introduced us to city of Rome and accompanied us on subway and sardine-can bus to our hostel, kitty-corner with the Vatican. We stayed there the first night and at Rob's place in Trastevere three more.

Italian breakfasts are for sweet-teeth! Capuccino e cornetto meant the tastiest coffee and croissant we've ever had. The sugar blast lasted through our tour of the Vatican, about 5 hours of the most opulent art imaginable. After that, we fueled up on pizza, noting quirky toppings such as potato and buffalo cheese. Italy is not a place for dieting, that's for sure.

Over the next few days we walked around the Coloseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, Musei Capitolini, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and strolled around Trastevere. It's a beautiful place to be. Everyone is dressed so stylishly and my theory is that they don't want to be overshadowed by their gorgeous city.