We are here!

Nina and I are at our hostel, using the free internet. It was an adventure getting here - haha. First of all, we totally overpacked, with two bags each and a personal item. And for some reason, I thought it would be good for me to bring books, which are hella heavy.
Also, I inevitably sat behind Rude Chair Back All The Way The Whole Nine Hour Flight Man.
Anyway, we get to the train station at the airport after the easiest customs process ever - no forms - , and we can't tell which train to get on, so we buy Euro 5.50 tickets for the regional train like the guidebook suggested, and then proceeded to get on the train Leonardo Express that costs 11 Euro. Luckily, they didn't check our tickets, so we were okay. Then we bought Rome passes and tried to get on the Metro, but the train was out of control full, so we had to wait for the next one, and then the next one before we could finally push our way on. Then, on the train, I had the brilliant idea of carry Nina's bags with straps on our backs like backpacks, and life was way easier after that. We switch trains to the aboveground metro one that goes to the hostel, got off, waited for the shuttle, and arrived at the hostel. We checked in and our room wasn't ready, so now I'm here.

The hostel is really nice, and I'm excited to stay in it and have a shower (for real).

Anyway, we're going to go to Ostia Antica and the beach today and get some food and gelato. I'll also have an Italian phone number by the end of today.

Nina and Lauren's Lessons Learned:
1. Always find out if where you're staying has an airport shuttle. Ours did, and we could have saved ourselves a lot of time and suffering. (However, we were troopers, and made it, and saved money. So there.)
2. Pack light. For real. Looking cute is not worth carrying your suitcase.
3. Ask questions. We may have gotten told that we were on the right train twice by people, and still been on the wrong train, but at least we were vindicated in our wrong location.