Final Notes

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Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823

October 4, 2009

Today was check-out day on the ship. The ship arrived in Citavecchia (the port, approximately 45 minutes from Rome

) at 3am and people began leaving around 5:30am. We were off the ship at 08:30am. We took a Royal Caribbean shuttle bus out of the port, walked to the train station, and took the train into Rome

. We did well today ~ we were at our hotel before noon! We stayed at the same hotel but this time we had a smoking room and it was the best room in the hotel ~ or so we think ~ huge sleigh bed (Art Deco style), huge painting, very tall windows that opened on two different streets (corner room), etc. We quickly changed and walked back to the Termini or the "hub" of this area in Rome

and had a quick lunch then we caught an open-air tour bus for 15 Euro each ~ it took us to every historical site imaginable in Rome

, with stops everywhere. It was awesome. It was semi-warm, sunny, with a nice breeze ~ we plugged-in our headphones so we could listen to the announcements and information about everywhere we were going and were consumed in the history of Rome

. After two hours, we were overwhelmed with history and incredibly tired but had some beautiful memories, pictures, and thoughts about this amazing historical city. We finally got off the tour bus back at the Termini and walked around looking at this and that. Hubby bought me a real, brown leather purse. I love it! I'm a purse fan ~ Dooney, Vera Bradley, Coach, and just pretty! I'm fans of great purses made by everyone! This tan leather hipster model is the perfect size for me, has the perfect amount of pockets in all the right places, etc. We walked around some more and then went to our hotel room for a quick stint and a bit of rest before we realized it was Sunday night and nearly dark outside and we hadn't ate ~ so, we went to a nearby outdoor café which was flooded with other tourists. Hubby had some sort of meat and potato mixture (typical for him) ~ except, I will say, veal was one of the meats. I decided to have a carb overload ~ spaghetti! It was served al dente which was different for me but okay. In the future I would hope to remember and order the spaghetti "well done" in Italy! It was only 5 Euro and I shared with Hubby. We ate, slowly walked to our hotel, watched a bit of TV while we repacked the suitcases (again) and finally went to sleep ~ actually, Hubby was asleep by midnight but I was not in bed until nearly 2am because I was so busy trying to get all the bags packed and safe for customs. Note to self: on future trips pack an extra bag for souvenirs!
Leaving Rome

and Home..
We are at home now so I will wrap-up quickly… Leaving Rome

was interesting ~ we were awake at 7am in Rome

and did not go back to sleep for 22+ hours. For starters, we had an incredibly crazy driver to the airport and the car (a Peugot) died in the express/fast lane once!! I kept trying to remember landmarks in case we were captured and held hostage and I had to somehow get a phone and attempt to explain where we were at (I laugh at that nervously now). It was so bad actually that the guy's car literally died while he was speeding down the expressway to the airport so he had to fly across four lanes to the shoulder and kept saying “one momento” (or something garbled to that effect) until the car finally started again and he took off like a bat out of hell, again. We finally made it to the airport, gave the guy our last Euros (literally), and checked-in. Check-in at the airport in Italy

is nothing like the states ~ our bags were SUPER overweight and they could care less. There were also no lines, no other passengers or planes seem to be going-out this morning but this one international flight from Rome to Detroit. They also don't have a bunch of snack shops and things like we have in America

~ just expensive jewelry stores and purse stores. So, we finally board the plane and I was soooo dreading the flight back because it was 9 hours and 35 minutes ~ longer than on the way there! Well, lo and behold, it was an awesome flight!! I could definitely do day flights again. I sat next to some nice people and we all took off our tennis shoes and wore our socks (good idea), I watched “My Sister's Keeper” and even though I cried most of the movie, I absolutely LOVED it!! Then we had a meal (just so-so), then I got a full can of Coke Zero from the flight attendant (cool), then Hubby & I slept a bit ~ actually, Hubby was snoring. We both slept together for a bit and then I watched “The Proposal” (with Sandra Bullock) and it was okay, too ~ Hubby slept through all of this ~ and it was a daytime flight! Then I played Bejeweled. Finally, Hubby was awake and we only had 90 minutes left of the flight! Awesome! I played Bejeweled until they turned the monitors off. We arrived in Detroit

(early) and FLEW through customs (awesome experience compared to the last time we went through Detroit

customs). We went to the Fox Sky Bar and Hubby smoked and we called various people (our parents, etc). We finally boarded our last flight home. I read for the first 45 minutes and Hubby, again, slept. We both slept the last 45 minutes. We were soon in St. Louis

. We called Aunt Helen and Uncle Phil and they picked us about 20 minutes later. By the time we went to sleep at their house we had been awake and up for nearly 24 hours straight. Unfortunately, we were used to a 7-hour time difference. We both slept like logs until about 1am and then we were wide awake, again. We decided after an hour or so of this, that it was 10am to us so we should just drive home (it was 3am in St. Louis

). So, we left Aunt Helen and Uncle Phil a note, tiptoed outside, and drove home. We stopped at Schnuck's 24-hour grocery store in Eureka

(I love that store) and I got a banana, made a quick stop for gas, and drove home. Simon (our spoiled Yorkie) was so happy to see us!! It was wonderful. It was still dark here and yet to us, it was afternoon time. It was wonderful coming home yet it was a wonderful honeymoon, too! This was a dream honeymoon experience and we both loved it.

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