benvenuti a roma!!!!

so, after having the strangest bunch of flights and the absolutely nastiest-smelling train ride ever, i arrived in rome... since i arrived during the siesta, i decided to take a small nap to try to get a little boost since i hadn't slept in two days, woke up and had some incredible pizza margherita at cafè paparazzi... mmm mmm mmm. i then decided that since the sun was about to set, i'd go check out san pietro...

i walked down via d. conciliazione quite briskly, almost as if i was half-expecting the majesty of it all to suddenly disappear and find myself back at home waking from some sort of really vivid dream. as the cathedral and piazza came into view, i felt really strange, quite overwhelmed really, as it had actually hit me that i was in rome (i find it quite entertaining that it took me leaving rome and entering vatican city to finally realize that i'm here... hmmmm). i walked up to the square and through the south colonade that reaches out to embrace the piazza - i ran my hand along all 44 columns, and i don't know whether it was the fatigue, the actual experience of it all, or the vino starting to make me feel all warm and fuzzy, but eing the big fat baby that i am, i actally started to cry... it finally registered with me how much i had wanted to come to italy and how hard i worked to finally get here. yeah.

as i left the square, i found a bench on the boulevard and decided to sit down before heading back to my flat... on via in caterina (yeah, it rocks...) - i watched as the last rays of sunlight left the sky and dropped behing the amazingly large cupola, turning the canvas above me from a greenish-yellowish-gold to a perfectly transparent electric blue. sigh.

then, while on the way home, i decided that it was time for gellato... mango, melone and frutti di boschi... mmm mmm mmm. then i went to sleep (i got up and watched the sunrise from the pantheon this morning... ahhhhhh.... che bellissima)

i'm now on my way to pick brad up from the airport - so i'll check you folks later on....

benvenuta a roma, natalie. bienvenuta alla citta eterna...
ciao!