Here we were - mere hours after leaving lonely little Broad Brook - face to face with one of the craziest, loudest, holiest, sexiest, hottest and most chaotic cities in the developed world: Roma. La Bella Città.

One moment I was watching the Connecticut rain hit my windshield, and seemingly the next I was watching for pickpockets on the number 40 bus as it roared past Largo Argentina, with its dozens of Roman cats grooming themselves in the warm Roman sun. Before I could say "we're not in lonely little Broad Brook anymore" I found myself staring in awe at Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) in the Piazza Navona (which, by the way, after years of restoration, looks fantastic).

We'd had a rough flight - turbulent and chock full of tour groups on their way to the Vatican for Easter. The first day of our European trips always seem to start like this: lack of sleep combined with the jet-lag renders me into a kind of semi-stoned state. Even the mundane seems somewhat surreal. Drop me into over-the-top Rome and the feeling is magnified tenfold.

People everywhere, rushing when you are not and standing still when you need to move. Italians gesticulating like every sentence is the most important thing they have ever said. American tourists, dressed like children, watching them like they might a bar fight, with a mixture of fear and primitive excitement.  Traffic flowing like water, treating stoplights and lane markers as mere suggestions. All the while the motorini whine as their daredevil riders defy the laws of physics.

By 1PM it was time to duck into somewhere quiet and take a deep breath. This place, Cul de Sac, was perfect for that. We shared a plate of antipasti and a bowl of stewed artichokes and fava beans, both of which are in season. We shared a glass of something red from the Lazio region (Rome's region) and a glass of Nero d'Avola in honor of our previous trip to Sicily.

Dining on the quiet street in front of this charming little place I finally felt the adrenaline subside and began to taste the sweetness of Rome.

With a belly full of cured meats and artichokes it was on to more of the surreal. For starters, there is the Pantheon, which makes me practically weep with wonder. A 2,000 year-old testament to the human mind, not to mention the strength of many human backs. The inside of the dome looks like this:

Yeah, I know. Built 2,000 years ago. Still standing. Still making grown men weep.

Eventually, the sun went down on our hallucinatory first day back to Rome. We hit the pillow and slept like the bones of the Santa Maria della Immacolata Concezione. By the time I woke up the next day my head had cleared. Luckily, the magic had not...