Welcome to Rome

I have no idea how long the flight was, but I got into Rome somewhere around 9:45 local time. I grabbed my bags and found the table to meet reps. from AUR. Inside 10 minutes, I was in a van with 4 other guys. One by one (well, actually 2 at one stop) they were dropped off at their apartments. When I was to only one left in the van, we went to caompus to pick up my other 2 roommates who'd been in Rome for 1 & 3 days each, along with JD's girlfriend and Rob's cousin.

Roommates (part one):

I room with JD. He's from the Philly area, goes to Penn State. His girlfriend, Gwen, is also studying here for the semester. Easy to get along with. He'd be a great guy if he wasn't from Penn State. ...did I mention there's a bit of a friendly Big Ten rivalry in our room? (I think he's just jealous of Wisconsin's #5 ranking - though after just squeezing by UNLV, i think i'll pull back a little on the trash-talk we've been dishing back and forth.)

Rob is from Atlantic City. He has Italian born parents and a bunch of family in southern italy and a cousin in Rome.

After we got settled in our apartment, Rob's cousin took us around Trastevere. We ate a typicaly slow italian lunch at a place we found while exploring the neighborhood. A small beer, bruschetta, pizza or pasta, and espresso all for €10. Pizza was more food, so i went with that over the pasta. Took the leftover 1/2 back to our fridge. I didnt realize it at the time, but that was my 3rd time having pizza out of 4 meals.

Roommates (part two):

Eric - from Minneapolis, goes to Boston College
Justin - from St. Louis
Craig - from Upstate NY

In the evening, we met up with a bunch of other study abroad students @ campus for a walking tour - we thought just of Trastevere - to find the best places to dine, drink, and enjoy gelato. Jay - one of the 4-year students leading the tour - pointed us to his favorite restaurant - Mario's. After crossing the river, going thru Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navonna, and passing the Pantheon, we realized we were only going farther and farther away. Eric and I decided to turn back and try to find Mario's where we were supposed to meet the rest of the crew who'd turned back earlier to go to our apartment to try and meet Rob (who was out with his cousin). Initially, we had an hour and a half to meet them at Mario's. By the time we got to that area, only 20 of that initial 90 minutes remained. so we skipped Mario's and after unsuccesfully hunting for a place with Paninis, I settled on pizza ......for a 4th time in 5 meals.

We eventually met the rest of the roommates and enjoyed the first night in with a few cold beers on the steps of a fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere.