Getting to Rome...

We had an early reservation for our train tril down towards Rome. When we made our reservations, we decided to stop and spend some time in Milan, to help break up the trip and to see more of Italy.

I napped for two hours on the first train. But first I enjoyed the view of the sunrise over Lake Zurich

We got to Milan around 11. We didn't want to spend 8 euro to leave our bags at the station, so we just carried them. I also had changed into jeans so we could go into the cathedral. It was really warm in Milan! I dunno the temperature, but it was warm. We took the metro to main Piazza Duomo. The Piazza was really big, with the Duomo di Milano the main attraction.

We decided to walk around the area a bit first before going into the church. Plus we were both really hungry and were wanting food. We hoped to find pizza or something local, but everything was closed up. We walked up to the Castello. I didn't feel like touring another castle at the time though. We took pictures and kept going.

Some of the things we saw while walking

In one of my guidebooks it talked about how Rome shuts down for a couple weeks in August (it didn't specify which weeks). Pretty much everyone goes on Holiday so a lot of places are closed (which also gives a quieter city too though). We're guessing the same thing happened in Milan, because there's no other explanation for so many businesses being closed on a Saturday.

We couldn't find food, so we finally went back to the Piazza Duomo and had McDonalds. Then we went and walked through the cathedral.

The Duomo di Milano is the second largest catholic cathedral in Europe, and 4th in the world (largest in Italy).

We liked this guy's fist pump (on top of all of the spires there's a carved statue)

We were done so we went back to the train station. Unfortunately we had 2 hours until our train was to leave. We inquired if we'd be able to leave early, but we weren't able to change our tickets. That was ok, at least we had tickets! So we sat in the train station, got some snacks for the ride, and eventually it was time to get on our train. The section of track from Milan to Rome had a lot of tunnels which were really annoying because the pressure effects your ears like a plane. Except once you clear your ears, they become pressurized again right away. Doug was getting really mad about it.

We got into Rome close to 8 and found the tourist information to direct us to our hotel. We took a metro. The annoying part is that there are Italians that sit at the ticket machines and try to help you buy your ticket so that you will give them some change. We told them that we didn't need their help, that we could do it (you can select your language, and we know how to read). A girl kept pestering us though and she even canceled our tender, saying that the bill was too large. I told her that it wasn't, since we were getting two tickets and were getting the other money out. She said sorry and then selected the tickets again and we put our money in. Then she tried to ask for money. We told her no and kept going.

We had little trouble finding the hotel at first. We had to take a bus after getting off the metro. We did and then signaled for when we had to get off. My anxiety was so high at this point that it was hard to keep it together. Doug took charge though and we found our street. Then we saw that the company was Adagio, the same company that we stayed with in Paris, that we were so disappointed with. Our hearts sank a little. We went inside and they totally redeemed themselves. The entrance was beautiful in itself with a vine arch to the doorway. They have a pool! We'd been talking about how none of the hotels have a pool and it'd be a miracle if this one had one. And then it did!

We got to our room (on the top floor) and discover that we have a balcony! Some trees disrupt the view, but who cares? We have a balcony with a bit of a view!

Not exactly what it looked like, but it looks cool in the picture too

We're 20 minutes walking from the Vatican City, and we have a pass for the metro and bus all week.

We have a queen size tempur-pedic bed. It's comfy. And we have a little kitchen in a cupboard. We're really happy.

We tried to go grocery shopping but it was too late and it was closed. The only thing around was McDonalds...so we had that again.

Tomorrow is our resting day, so we're excited about that! Time to relax before seeing Rome!