Let me first start by thanking Jady, Heidi, etc on slow talk. Its been an amazing resource to make the most of your trip. It seems most folks on the forum believe in taking it slow… quite the antithesis of what I’m doing. But, nonetheless everyone on ST has been amazingly helpful trying to fit in what I can.

I actually did not have an itinerary 7 days before my trip. I was of the mindset that, Roma is amazing and whatever happens happens. As the departure date drew closer, I realized my assumptions were poor and I had to get my butt in gear! With the help from ST… I can now officially say my trip thus far has been AMAZING (Naples & Capri were meh.. I’ll post about those places at a later date).

I got in last night around 7pm, I had a great conversation with an Australian couple who happen to live in Canberra (my hometown!). I got a real kick out of their apparent interest in US Politics. They were Obama supporters and felt like Romney and FOX News were a joke. They also mentioned something I found interesting… Australian news paints America as somewhere where unemployment has hit hard as if it were the great depression all over again. The train ride overall was a short one only an hour long from Naples to Rome. I used trenitalia and I must say… go with the PNR booking code on your phone if at all possible. If you dont, you need to line up for a ticket, and you must get it validated before you get on the train.. AND THEN present the ticket again while onboard. Eff that!

Once I arrived I checked in, rested a bit and went straight to dinner. My first dinner in Roma was at Flavio al Velavevodetto. Overall, my untrained palette thought it was quite delicious. I had the Rigatoni alla Carbonara, then the Polpette al Sugo, and wrapped it up with some Tiramisu.

I was too thoroughly enjoying my meal I forgot to take pictures of the Rigatoni alla Carbonara or the Tiramisu.

The chef even came out to say hello. I had my picture taken with her 🙂