We're here and we're walking and we're walking!

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Our journey began Friday, we dropped off the car and took the shuttle bus to the airport. The guy at the car park said there’d be someone to pick us up even if we got in late….Philly is known for having delays….first bad omen! Check-in was a breeze, no lines. We decided to pack light when we saw the baggage fees…1^st bag free, 2^ndbag 50 lbs or less $100 fee, any bag over 50 lbs $150 fee…lovely!!! Bradley has the new scanners that will find anything out of place….I tested it with a hair band I forgot I had in my pocket and got sent to secondary screening. Nothing was said about the pins and metal plate in my feet. Had a quick lunch before boarding our 1 hour flight to Philly. Second bad sign was all the overhead bins were full so I had to check my carry-on roller bag all the way through to Rome….good thing I had enough room in my “small personal item” to hold more stuff, but no charge for checking the bag….so generous of the airline!!

We left the gate on time then sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes because Philly had a brief shut down due to high winds. Guess the car park guy knew his stuff. We headed to the international concourse in Philly and wondered if we’d find the infamous bar from the snowstorm trip with Bob Day. Well low and behold we did…name has changed, maybe to avoid the bad press from our visit….but we knew it was the same place. We didn’t have time to recreate that wonderful memory…we started boarding shortly after we got to the gate. Once again, we left the gate on time only to sit on the tarmac in a long line of plane…#16…another 20 minutes before we’d actually take of off….okay 3 strikes…we’re done!

We had an oh so yummy chicken dinner, with a free glass of wine. We added two half bottles of wine and settled in to watch the movie “Olympus Has Fallen”. Freddie’s movie was a few minutes ahead of mine, so I would watch his to see how mine turned out…he ended up blocking his screen from my view!! The prescription meds didn’t help Freddie sleep…he was up the whole 9 hour flight. I dozed, got an upset stomach and kept my barf bag at the ready. So much for arriving in Rome feeling rested and refreshed!! Immigration and customs were a breeze…just got waved through. Craig met us and in 30 minutes were at the villa with the rest of the family.

Craig encouraged us to stay up and tough it out, so we played through. We walked to the “Bar” about the 8’x10' with a small indoor counter, that served coffee, pastries, beer wine and cocktails. We had a really yummy coffee drink called marocchino, then wandered to the local grocery markets. Seems the Italians are very particular in their grocery shopping…you must don a plastic glove before touching any fruits, veggies, breads, etc. I did see some Italian wines here in the markets that we have at home....Villa Antinori was one. Late in the afternoon we walked to the local train station to take a train to the metro to get into the city of Rome. Oh did I mention I was left standing on the train platform while everyone else made it onto the metro and headed into Rome…yup…standing there while they all waved ta-ta…see ya…I’ve never felt so alone….completely abandoned by the only English speaking people I know in this country!!! Well not to worry, Freddie and Craig waited for me at the next stop and hopped on and we continued into Rome. The whole ride start to finish is about 30 minutes or so, depending on how long you have to wait for each train.

Our niece had her first CCD class so Freddie and I walked around Rome with Craig….and walked and walked and walked. We figure we covered enough miles for a half marathon!!!! We passed the Trevi Fountain, The Cornaro Chapel where we saw the sculpture of The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa…just beautiful. Freddie was fascinated with the small water fountains scattered throughout Rome. He found a need to have me take a photo of his "stream" and managed to water a family on the opposite side of the road...nice guy!!!

We joined up with Deb and Lizzie for mass in a little chapel within the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e Martiri in the Piazza della Republica. There was a wedding taking place in the main part of the church so we crashed it, along with lots of other touristas.

After mass, we had dinner…I splurged on fettucine with porcini mushrooms, cream sauce and parmesan….heaven!!!!! The girls has pasta, Craig had a calzone, Freddie had lasagna....all good stuff. We decided to head to the Pantheon, then to Piazza Navona….more walking and walking and walking. But by now it was dark and the city had totally transformed….instead of tiny little cars and scooters zipping around, Rome was now a pedestrian mall. The lights just made everything look so different…just beautiful. Restaurants had tables outside on the streets barely leaving enough room for the occasional Smart Car to pass by. The normal dinner hour is 9 pm, so different from home…9 pm is jammie time for us!

Street vendors selling the same knock off handbags and genuine “Pashmina” scarves we find for sale in Chinatown, NYC are everywhere. We then wandered looking for a specific gelateria….they’re on every street but Deb a certain one she’d been to before and it was really good. We couldn’t find it so settled for the one with 150 flavors. Craig had the ultimate will power and abstained, Freddie had lemon, I had pistachio with chocolate chips, Deb had a mélange of 3 flavors, Lizzie had banana…all very yummy!!!! We decided it was time to head to the metro to go home. Craig congratulated Freddie and I for being up for 36 hours straight….that’s how you play through!!!!!

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Photos

Airport security
Hoops and Sharkey at Bradley, making sure our luggage is safe.

Philly airport bar
The infamous bar at Philly airport where we ran up a $200 breakfast bar tab with Bob Day on our way to St. John.

Freddie's stream???
hmmm...not sure what to say about this

Cafe
Rome at night

Piazza Navona
restaurants along Piazza Navona

Comments

[jan]

Nice pics
Glad you both stuck it out for the flight over. Fred must have been running on fumes. No wonder he slept through the storm. Looking forward to seeing more of your adventures. Looks beautiful.