Stepping Foot on the 7 Continents of the World A Step at a Time

An adrenaline rush woke me too early in my last morning in Madrid. Good, because I had to catch a 7 am flight to Rome. Bad, because it was a feeling of agitation over the unknown. It was my first time to fly budget outside the Philippines so I didn't know what to expect. What kind of plane would I be in? Would they serve food? Would the service be at least decent? I also didn't know what to expect as soon as I'd land in Rome. Would I find my hotel taxi? Would I locate my hotel? Would I finally get pickpocketed by the gypsies? It didn't take long for my day to start at the wrong foot. I shared an airport shuttle service to save money, which meant I had to sit through every stop to pick up the rest of my fellow passengers. My would be breakfast at the airport all went to the trash bin when I walked through security with it. We had to wait forever inside the bus that took us to the plane for a reason that's still unknown to me. And I had to endure the 2 hour flight with inept and rude flight attendants. Though I must say their uniforms were stylish. But things started to pick up positively as soon as I landed in Rome. There was a vibe that was palpable the minute you step into the airport. Though it took forever for my luggage to appear in the conveyor belt, it gave me time to really absorb all the buzz that was happening around me. The Italians were an energetic lot. And it's quite infectious. I sort of picked it up because I was a changed person the moment I stepped out to find my hotel taxi. I was spritely as the locals were. And listening to Italian being spoken everywhere became music to my ears. All the stress that I felt leaving Madrid seemed to have been left inside the plane. I was loving Rome instantaneously. And then I met my driver, who was a middle aged quite fashionable man in dark suit, cream shoes and stylish shades. Italians really do it better, most especially fashion and style. He whisked me to my taxi which was, to my surprise, a Mercedes Benz. I already knew of this story of MBs as cabs in Europe, but seeing it for myself totally floored me. It was indeed worth the 65 euros I paid for. It didn't stop there as this pleasant experience continued to my hotel. I also paid good money for this hotel. Well, they didn't disappoint. The goodlooking front desk guys welcomed me like I was the wealthiest Asian to ever check in their hotel. There was a nice touch of showing you the map of Rome and pointing out the tourist spots, the nice restaurants, the hippest clubs and the places to avoid. My room was heavenly, especially knowing that the hotel used to be a monastery. Filled with euphoric excitement, I decided not to waste time and I began to explore Rome. The metro was confusing at the beginning. But after surviving 2 more complicated metro systems, I was a master of the Rome metro in no time by just staring and studying the map for about 5 minutes. I was off to see the Spanish steps, the Pantheon, the Fountain of Trevi, eating authentic spaghetti and gelato and just lounging around with the tons of tourists like me. I was already in love with Rome on my first day. Its being expensive was fully justified. No amount of words could describe the intermingling of the people's energy with the fantastic ruins that one just discovers as you lazily stroll the narrow streets. Truly la dolce vita. I was excited to see more and knew my adrenaline would be working on overdrive in this eternal city.