Michael and Chantal's Belated Honeymoon - Day One

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How could we forget? Ten years ago we endured the 7-hour flight from Montreal to Nice -- that flight, the cramped legs, the noise that defies sleep -- and here we are doing it again. Only this time it’s Rome. Only this time we are celebrating our marriage, even though it was two years ago.
Learning from our experience in 1997, we decided to stay over near the Rome airport the first night after arriving in Italy. We found our rental car quite easily - a small Fiat that burned about 48 miles to the gallon or 17 km. per liter. It was a bit cramped and was a standard, which neither of us had driven since 1999.
And of course we got lost trying to find our hotel. Some of our more memorable moments have occurred through being lost. In our search, we came upon ‘Mario’, a local carabinieri (Italian police). We speak no Italian, other than the stereotypical Italian we hear on TV, and Mario spoke some English, Michael’s mother tongue, and French, Chantal’s mother tongue. After a few minutes of frustration, because Mario was heading into work, he motioned for us to follow him and he led us directly to our hotel. May God bless you richly, Mario. And so we rested the first day of our honeymoon.
Later in the afternoon we walked around the hotel block. This was our first close up look at olive trees and what a sight. This particular one must be hundreds of years old. And we were surprised to find cactus growing wild. It must be that dry in Italy. Along the way stopped to talk with a local man, about Michael’s age. Although Reale spoke no English, somehow we managed to make ourselves understood. Perhaps it was the unspoken language of brotherhood. As we started to walk away, Reale called us back and invited us to his home. There we met his family, his wife, a daughter, her husband and a granddaughter, and tasted Reale’s homemade wine and grappa. Reale’s wife (unfortunately we've forgotten her name) served us her homemade biscotti. After an hour we decided to leave, dinner you know -- Reale presented us with his premiere wine, a grappa liquor. What a wonderful experience. This one was a memory maker for sure.

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Photos

Ostia Antica from the Park Hotel
This was our first sight of Italy, having arrived from Canada and getting settled at the Ostia Antica Park Hotel

Proof of cactus in Italy
This cactus grew outside our hotel. This wasn't the largest, either.

Reale's family with Chantal
These are such gentle, generous people - typical of most we met throughout our trip.

How old is this tree?
We assume this olive tree is at least 100 years old - any guesses?