Rome, Italy

Rome was a riot.  Literally.  With tickets in hand for the train from Florence to Rome we settled in for the evening to relax before our journey the next day.  As I flipped through the channels I stumbled across the local news reporting that violent riots had broken out in Rome.  Actually that is not true, what I saw were video clips of rioting and burning cars; My Italian is limited to ordering coffee so the accompanying reporting was lost on my American ears.  But, like the social media junky I am I quickly searched "Rome" on my twitter feed.  This provided me with breaking news and details about the riots.

I admit the riots made me a little nervous, particularly knowing that University of Washington students haven't had the best luck in Italy in recent years.  After a brief discussion with Brad and a quick check of the State Department's travel warnings for Americans traveling in Italy, we decided to proceed as planned. Jeepers, I am glad we did! The only remnant of the prior evenings unrest we noticed was a strong police presence.

Rome was more than I ever expected it to be. We checked into our hotel, located at the foot of the Spanish Steps, dropped our bags and set out to see what condition our condition was in.  I am happy to report the condition was stunning.  We wandered our way through the center of the city, past ancient ruins, glorious fountains, and found ourselves staring at the Coliseum.  Not a bad stroll for our first evening.