Last night we were tired and had no problem crashing into bed as soon as we got our keys from the tiny front desk. When our driver dropped us off, guiding us through what seemed to be the entrance to a garage, the night-shift guy was fast asleep on the large couch in the reception area. Truth be told, this B&B — 1 Via dei Valeri — is modest and small, but cozy, pleasant, comfy and somewhat chic. At first, I though the king-sized bed was going to be the best part, but soon I realized the air conditioned would be my most understanding pal.
And now, there I was, laying in bed and slowly opening my eyes, just to be blinded by the first Roman sun rays of the day. Rushed out of bed and straight to the huge glass door that led outside to our private balcony complete with a table and a couple of chairs. When I opened it my first thought was “Damn, it’s hot!”. Breakfast was small but neat: bread, cheeses and smoked meats, all arranged into one little plate, along with orange and red orange juice, coffee and a variety of pastry. All of which consumed outside on the B&B’s balcony — what a perfect way to kick off our stay in Rome.
Day one starts, not surprisingly, in Lisbon. It was about 4 PM and I was leaving work — the flight was late in the day, so I figured I could spare taking an additional day off. Lena was waiting for me outside in the baggage-loaded car, João was the driver. We had a few hours still, but expectation always gets to us, and we can’t but be excited and get there early. Too early sometimes.
The flight leaves at 7 PM sharp and, to our disappointment, the Euro2012 Portugal VS Spain semi-final starts at 7:45 PM. We’ll be 10,000 feet in the air without any ground connection — we’ll be in the dark until we land at 10:45 PM. Bummer.
A month ago I bought the Fujifilm x100 and been meaning to write about it since. Unfortunately, haven’t had the time or the availability to really test the camera to its full potential until two weeks ago. And what better situation to do so than a trip to Rome.
For the first three days I used the x100 exclusively, the remaining days I walked around with the 5D Mark II; did so to test each one separately and to clearly see which are each one pitfalls and gems.
This article is divided into the following sections:
