Buongiorno from Roma

I'm in Rome.

It's surreal. It's a blur. I'm really tired but in high spirits to say the least. I'm sure I'll be a bit more composed after a good night's sleep and such. It's very different than I was expecting in some ways, but in an interesting way. The streets of my residence are--no joke--about 3 blocks from the Vatican. I saw the basilica on my drive in (which note to all of you: taxi drivers are totally nuts and go 60 km/h over the speed limit, change lanes without a blinker and rarely settle on one lane. Yeah, I was tired and it was definitely an experience to say the least).

My flights went well, my bag took over an hour to get off the plane and I nearly freaked out at Lufthansa, but it came and I just scooted through and found my booth and came on over to the place where I'm staying. I have a single, but an apartment mate got here earlier and claimed it, got completely settled, and I'm having to be "that guy" that gets it, since it was assigned to me personally and I have the email to prove it. And it's big, private, and not a triple, all good things!

And I went to a Roman market and looked at fruit and watched a person I was sort of in a group with touch the fruit and the market lady absolutely growled at them, since, apparently, you're supposed to wear gloves while touching the fruit. Lesson learned. Oh, and bags cost 5 cents a piece, so that took a bit of a second to figure out, but everything is priced as listed, tax included, and it's pretty basic once you get used to it. French'll help a bit, English is ok, but I'll know Italian soon enough and get by.

But pictures are forthcoming, and the real journey has begun. It's 7:22 pm here and 10:22 am back home, so with that adjustment behind me, it's onward and upwards. The mass bells just tolled from the Vatican and I'm in Roma, tired and worn through, but feel good. Spirits are up. Hope all is well back home, and more to come soon.

Ciao.