Rome, Italy

My Trip to Rome, Italy

I had learned I was being sent to Italy in March of 2000 for a machine tool exhibition. I found out the happy news just before leaving work. Excitedly I jumped into my car and started my journey home. As I drove home down I-95 through all of the usual evening traffic I just kept thinking about ho I was going to tell my husband we were going to Italy. That night I continuously paced the floor looking out of my bedroom window to see if my husband was home from work yet. As he drove up in our driveway I ran outside to tell him the good news. I said, "Nick guess where we are going in March?" Before he could even say where I yelled out "Italy"! Italy, he said with a puzzled look on his face. I then explained the situation with work and said to him since if I have the opportunity to go I thought it would be a great idea for you to come along with me. I suggested scheduled some time before the show for the two of us to travel around Rome. Later that night it was settled we would schedule a couple of days to tour Rome before the exhibition.

It seemed like forever before we would finally be on our way, but then before I knew it we were on the airplane and the flight attendant is announcing fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing into Leonardo da Vinci airport.

After arriving at the airport we had to transfer to a train that would take us to the city center. It was about a 30-minute train ride. Along the ride I was getting my first look at Rome, mostly the colorful countryside with the rows of sunflowers that were so splendid with bright yellow centers, and green leaves that were so full of life. Just pass the beautiful field of sunflowers was a small farmhouse made of stone. You could see the smoke coming out of the chimney and the farmers working their land.

Upon arriving at the main train station, "Stazione Termini" in Italian, the excitement was building I couldn't wait another minute to see all the sites of Rome. The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, and the Vatican were tops on my list, and with only a couple of days to site see there wasn't any time to waste. We stopped at our hotel the "Hotel Bolivar" which was a small hotel with only 18 rooms. The hotel was off the main road surrounded by other buildings. The building was old maybe 100 years or more, but beautiful. The wooden shutters on the windows and the pale beige stone walls were breathtaking.

We decided we would not take a guided tour, but opted to take a more exciting route and we would find our way around on foot. We left our hotel and started to travel down the Italian Street "Via dei Fori Imperialli" and there before our very eyes was The Colosseum. It was amazing just like the pictures I have seen all my life. I found it strange however that it sat directly in the middle of the street where cars and mopeds or vespas as they're known in Italy wizzed around it like it was just another building. Walking closer to The Colosseum we began to see the stone remains and columns of the Roman Forum. In order for the stone remains of the now vanished temples to have some meaning we had to purchase a detailed map, but at night