Day one - Roma driving

So I convinced my friends we needed to rent a car in Italy so we could get around and by the time they arrived at the airport I was ready to turn the car in and actually go home. Yes, a bit overdramatic but I was tired since I did not sleep on the plane and my first driving experience in Italy was brutal.

I rented the next size up from compact to insure we would be comfortable - four girls, our luggage, and room for all our souvenirs. Then I saw the car and I laughed for a good five minutes. Can you imagine if I did not upgrade?!

I picked up the car at the airport at 1130am and planned to check in to the hotel, take a shower, and then drive to see Ostia Antica before Heather and Melissa arrived at 5pm. I had printed Mapquest directions and was off. The first ten minutes went well - I got out of the airport and was on the correct road. Then it all went bad.

I took wrong exits, I tried to turn around, I got lost, I asked for directions, I wanted to cry, and then I repeated this over and over for 5 hours! Twice when I asked for directions I was told to drive two kilometers down the road and ask someone else. At first I thought I did not understand what they were saying. I only took a semester and a half of Italian so it is not like I am anywhere near fluent but that was what they said - really!

Turning around in Italy - not so easy - in fact nearly impossible. I would get all turned around, find the way I should be going and then bam - lost again and would spend a good half hour getting back to the direction I was going in.

Apparently, December 26th is a national holiday in Italy and everything was closed. After driving around for several hours, I needed to pee but could not find anything that resembled a public restroom. I pulled into a grocery store parking lot opened the driver and passenger doors to cover the sides, used an umbrella to cover the front and gave a new meaning to PUBLIC toilet! And wouldn't you know I had to pee for like three minutes! I sure hope there weren't any cameras in that lot but if there was I hope I brought humor to their life and am not a wanted criminal in Rome!

I was real close and I asked a man walking his dog for directions. After one more time being lost, I finally found the hotel! I check in to the hotel at the same time I should be leaving to pick up Heather and Melissa. Instead of rushing to pick up the girls, I shower. The shower did not have any walls and the whole bathroom got wet.

Before I head back to the airport, I ask the hotel receptionist if I have the correct directions to the hotel. She says what I have is correct and offers me a map of Rome but tells me that the hotel itself is off the map grid (um - how would that help?). I actually only get lost a few times and would not have been too late picking H&M up if I did not have to sit in traffic for an hour. Several cars were involved in what probably would have been a fender bender but because their cars are so little, the cars now resemble accordions. Lanes in Rome are not clearly marked. A big section of road could be for three cars at a time. Could be for six - just depends where the people around you want to go. I didn't mind the aggressive driving and just worried about myself. This policy would be all fine and dandy until the ambulance needs to make it past my car and there is no where to go. I definitely thought I was going to get run over!
At the airport, we wait till Amanda arrives before heading back to the hotel. Our first Italian meal is at McDonald's. Amanda tries to order in Italian with my help and the guy looks at her like she is crazy and repeats her order in English. Melissa tries to order in Spanish - this will be the theme of the trip :)

Even the four of us with my five hours of experience take two hours to make it to the hotel which is only 20 minutes away from the airport. Exhausted, we all hit the sack eager to put this day behind me and go to Naples in the morning. The photo is Melissa and Amanda sleeping.