Day one: 

The day is drawing to a close on the stone benches outside Basillica Santa Maria Maggiore.

 

It's warm and muggy this evening but the Italians are swaddled in layers of puffer and wool, waddling around like gift-wrapped ornamental penguins. It's making me laugh. I am always cold in London, but this really is light cardigan weather. There were frightened whispers all day long concerning a forescast of rain but it never came. A lot of stress for nothing. 

 

All in all the first day has gone pretty well. Yesterday evening I took a cab from the airport and didn't even get scammed by the world famous taxi rank rebels!  They actually dropped me inside the walls for 48 euros which is the fixed rate they are not supposed to deviate from, but have been reported to do.

I arrived at 6pm and waited for my landlady Francesca on the steps of my building for half an hour. Getting my huge bag up two flights of stairs was genuinely a challenge for Francesca and me but we managed it eventually. Lifts are not a thing here. Neither are pedestrian crossings. The crossings are there but are disregarded by all motor traffic even at the crossings with the green man flashing emphatically in protest. Kitchens are not really a thing either. My flat has a stovetop kettle and no microwave. I felt this wasn't a deal breaker as electric kettles and microwaves can be quite cheap to buy. I have discovered however that there aren't any plugs in the kitchen at all, so I think I will have to make do without. It's getting late and I have school tomorrow but here are a few other things I've noticed so far:

 

England seems to be the only place in Europe that makes toast from bread at the moment immediately prior to consumption. Here you buy perfectly square pre toasted bread in massive packs like you do in France. Weird. Could be to do with the no plugs in the kitchen thing. Definitely an anti-appliance vibe going on.People here are really lovely and make everything easy for you. Instead of allowing you to struggle for ages with Italian they immediately know you are English and help you out with everything they can, whilst not making you feel like a stupid tourist. I sort of expected to be treated like a second class citizen because I'm not Italian and am visibly confused a lot of the time but that is not the case. Romans are really warm and friendly and not judgmental at all about the Brits and Americans bumbling around trying to figure out if what they are buying is in fact hair conditioner and not just a less see through shampoo. The wifi is nowhere near as bad as people make out. FaceTime and video streaming is possible in a lot of places including my building ( hurrah).It's so light here! I was sitting by the basilica at 8pm and it was not at all dark out. Makes the day feel really long and relaxed. 

Lunch: Fried broccoli starter on the house, followed by artichoke taglialini