Uscitimato Destro

Sam and I are currently braving the land of Italy on our very belated honeymoon/whatever trip.  I've been keeping a travelogue of sorts and sending them to my parents so they can feel equal parts unconcerned for our safety and insanely jealous.  So starting today, the backlogged journeys of yours truly in Italy-- truthful, boring, typo-full, and mouth-watering (probably. not.)  Keep checking back every day for the next 14-ish days for more exploits!

Day One - Nov 18

So we got in around 8ish this morning.  The airport was pretty dead, plus we were near the front of the plane and didn't have checked bags, so we got through customs and everything really fast.  Our plan was to use an ATM to get cash to pay for the apartment, but we tried several ATMs and none of them would take our card.  We decided to wait until we got to Termini to try the ATMs there, but it was still frustrating.  All the train ticket booths were cash only but we found a kiosk ticket dispenser thing and got our tickets to Termini.  We didn't validate our tickets properly (meaning not at all) but the lady was nice and just said to be sure to validate next time, so we didn't get fined.  That was really nice.

When we got to Termini, we tried like three more ATMs but none of them worked for our cards (one of them even broke after our many attempts...ha!) so we finally asked a tourist info desk where we could get cash (there were change stations at the airport but we wanted to avoid the exorbitant fees if we could) and they pointed out a hidden change window so we went there and got just enough to pay for the apartment.  We should've gotten more.  When we went there, the machine wouldn't read our card again, but they tried a different reader and it worked, so we learned that only certain ATMs and card readers will read american cards, even though it's regular Visa/Mastercard.  Frustrating.

Anyway, so we walked to the apartment but the guy wasn't there, so we had to call him and he was like "Five minutes!" and ran over.  He was very nice and showed us around the apartment (which is tiny but cute).  We had to fill out some forms and he kept saying "Bellisimo!" and stuff, it was funny.  There is a giant painting of Revolutionary War (as in USA) soldier toys above the dining table.  Very odd.

Peculiar decor

Anyway, so we had plans to go to the catacombs today, but we were so exhausted we lay down and woke up a few hours later, but then I felt like barfing and Sam had a headache, so we made some risotti with vegetable bouillon that we found in the cupboards.  Then we went back to sleep.  We woke up again around 5pm and I took a shower, then we looked up an ATM that would take our card and decided to purchase a temporary international data plan for my phone in case we get lost or have an emergency or something.  

We couldn't find the ATM but we found a grocery store and we had 10€ leftover from France that I brought, so we bought prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches and some water and took it home to eat.

We are going to have to get more cash tomorrow if we can't find that ATM but it's expensive at the change place which is a bummer.  But we will start also looking at sites too, which will be fun.  The Colosseum is within walking distance.

I think we are now going to go look at a basilica down the street before we go to bed.  It got dark a little before 5pm, very early.

Santa Maria Maggiore, across the street from the grocery store.  Crazy!

So far people have been understanding and helpful, except the cashier at the grocery store, but that's ok.

Sam and I are both regretting not studying more Italian.