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Published: April 19th 2011
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So we took off for Rome at 1:00 and got there at 3:15 (p.m.). It was the weirdest thing flying in there…the whole time we were coming down, I kept wondering where the airport was…it looked like we were going to fly right into a field! But at the last second the landing strip appeared…and I do mean second! Then we taxied, like at least 60 miles an hour, around curves, past barns and a rock quarry to finally arrive. The Leonardo Di Vinci airport is huge! We walked, and walked, then walked a bit more to finally reach customs…I am not sure what we did wrong, but we never found customs, and found ourselves outside! We looked around and no one seemed to care, so we headed for the train station looking furtively behind us to see if they were going to give chase! Well, again we had to walk miles and miles it seemed to get to the train station. Once there we bought our tickets and literally ran to catch the nearly departed train…the steps were really high and narrow, so I looked pretty hilarious telling Kenya to run on and I stood there throwing our suitcases up
one at a time…luckily, there was a guy who helped us out! Every single and last space was used on that ride! Talk about sardines!! Now, at this point, we still don’t feel like we are in the Eternal City…it seems like a dream! Our heads were swiveling every which way to see if we could catch a glimpse of something!!! I’ll never forget the moment that we rounded a corner and saw St. Peters’ Basilica!! Talk about wow!!! So, about a half hour later, we departed the train station to try and look for our hotel. I was so proud of myself; I went up to a really cute policeman and asked him in my best Italian “dove’ Via Marghera” or where is Marghera Street? He answered me in Italian of course and set us on our way We could not find the side street names at all…we felt like we were in the Amazing Race and started to panic just a little…but then something caught Kenya’s eye…a little plaque on the wall of the building…it said “via Marghera”! Our prayers were answered! Turns out, all the side streets are labeled this way…pretty cool once we got
the hang of it! So, in order to cross the street, here in Rome, you have to be willing to play chicken! There are no lights!! I seriously do not know how they do it….I thought that since I had a kid with me, I would be treated more gently…guess again sister!!! We definitely had to catch the drivers’ eye to make sure to let him know we were crossing, and he better let us! Wow…Cars going every which way! Crazy!! Also crazy how many Vespa’s and Smart cars there are!! They park them every which way…it is crazy! Luckily, when I was researching our hotel, it said that the hotel markings were not very prevalent…they were not joking! We came up to a silver door that was in a little enclave…we had to push a little button, and viola, we were in! The hotel has a beautiful little enclosed garden/courtyard in which they grow herbs for the food they create in the tiny café…yum! Our room was lovely with a double bed and mosaic wall art.
So…we HAVE arrived!!! Wow! It is still hard to believe!! We immediately went around the corner to a trattoria and Kenya had Fettucini Alfredo (of course), and I had Spaghetti Carbonara…I had never had it before, and it was delicious!!! Then we went back to the hotel, unpacked, and went to sleep. I had forgotten to bring my alarm clock, so I set the alarm on my cell phone…wrong move!!! Every couple of hours Eric would call and want to talk…I had to keep reminding him that it was night time here! After a couple of those, I got a little testy and told him not to call again…after all, we were only up for the preceding 29 hours!!! Lol
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