Our days in Rome

You thought I forgot about this, didn't you. Well I did.... Until now. So here we go, ROME! Now bare with me here people, I'm going off memory and pictures. So the details may be a little scattered. Before we begin let's just say I did my homework for this trip, contacted the banks, looked up the best credit cards to use, common phrases to know, the ways to travel the city, EVERYTHING. I had planned to go to a local bank and request to get some Euro's before we left, but everyone we talked to said there was really no need because any Visa card will work in any European country. I felt stupid and, therefore, decided not to do it. Next time, I'll go with my gut. ;)

Day 01
 So, we flew out of SLC on Friday and had the longest flight ever! The whole time I tried to sleep, but it was not happening. So Scott and I chatted and watched "The Avengers" which was the in flight movie for everyone. After the movie I managed to pass out for a few hours, and woke up to Scott telling me about the movie they had played next. He couldn't really sleep on the plane. (poor guy) So he had manged to watch a couple more movies without me and even gave me his shoulder for my own comfort. We had a short layover in Paris and then we were off! When we landed in the Fiumicino Airport we got our bags and immediately began looking for an ATM. We found one and for some reason it wouldn't work. Eh, no problem we passed a bunch, right? Wrong. We kept trying machine after machine because OF COURSE the taxi services do not allow you to pay their booth with a card. So we figured we would give one more machine a try and that is where our first big disaster occurred! The machine ate Scott's debit card. It had some Italian error message displayed across the screen. and we didn't know what to do. Of course I wasn't about to just walk away with his debit card stuck in this ATM in the airport.  What if the thing spit it out and someone else walked up and grabbed it. So naturally I threw a fit and refused to leave the ATM's side. Scott walked around some more trying to get some help and maybe make a different card work in another machine. (not our smartest moment) Luckily an Italian gentleman walked over and tried his best to help. He spoke , literally, no english, so after a few moment of trying his best to tell us what the error message said he just walked away. I just looked at Scott and went, "Umm ok?" Scott just shrugged and tried some more button mashing on the machine to see if the error would go away. Eventually the Man came back with a lady who he had apparently asked to translate for us. He told us the people who run the machine can be contacted by phone and usually will fix the machine right away. So we tried the phone number for the machines! UNfortunately, the business was not open on the weekends. gggrrreeaaatt.... I refused to leave without the card, and Scott started trying to calmly explain the situation and convince me that the card is gone. and we can call the emergency line with his bank and get it shut off. The little Italian man apparently was not happy with this idea either and unplugged the machine. When he plugged it back in we got a "windows" screen and the computer restarted, meanwhile it started to spit out Scott's card!!!! BONUS POINTS FOR THE ITALIAN MAN! He then explain that the ATM's in the airport are very touchy and if we needed money we should get it in the city. So, we went over to the taxi booth's and explained our dilemma. The lady at the counter completely understood and offered us a ride to a bank near our hotel. The driver then took us into the city where we met our first australian's that rode with us. They had been backpacking and were talking about their latest party sessions/"we are in another country let's blackout and forget the whole thing" story. Which made no sense to me. (Then again drinking in general makes no sense to me) They wished us luck and headed off. We then got our cash from the bank, Of course it worked no problem, paid the driver, and arrived at the hotel. We unpacked a little and took a small nap since the plane rides were complete torture. When we woke up it was only 9:00 that night, so we went to find some late night dinner. We walked around and came across what would become my favorite square of the city. The Piazza della Rotonda, which houses the Pantheon. After spending some quality time there taking (terrible) pictures and people watching we kept walking and found a bar called "Miscellanea." We order 2 cokes and a "pepperoni" Pizza. (Just a side note) In Italy a Pepperoni pizza doesn't have any pepperoni on it. It is only sauce cheese and sweet peppers, but it was by far the best pizza I've ever had in my life! We then just took our time going back to the motel and crashed for the night.