Rome Day 1 (and two)

Well, I suppose today is a big blur of day one and two. Our flights to Chicago then Rome were uneventful. Even with my special pillow contraption of beach balls and body pillow case combined with a concoction of Sudafed and Xanax - I still had a restless night with what I call the "Jimmy Legs". I tried to sleep but my legs would have no part in it. We flew American and the plane was older and the seats were really close together and didn't lean back much. Needless to say I was not as comfy as usual, but still probably slept better than the rest of the Alongi group.

So the two things I have forgotten. 1. earplugs. Would have maybe made the flight a bit nicer as it did seem to be a noisy group. 2. washcloths. I'm feeling kinda bad because my student worker extraordinaire, Sydne, is in France right now doing a study abroad class and I forgot to mention this to her (I thought I had given her all my best European travel tips). But this one slipped my mind.  erf. I'll use the hand towel from the bidet - but there does tend to be a bit of a gross factor with that. I'll try to keep my mind occupied while using it.

So our flight got into Rome a bit early and after gathering our bags we saw two gentlemen holding signs with our name on it. Allongi. Close enough! We split up in two vehicles and set out for downtown. We are all holding up nicely. Arriving at the hotel early, luckily most rooms were ready so we freshened up and set out to explore our lunch options. The hotel recommended a restaurant that we found right away. They didn't open until 12:30 so instead of waiting an hour we ate next door. It was more of a bakery, but the waiter was incredibly nice and brought us out a variety of pizzas (more like flatbread). We weren't picky, so it didn't matter to us what he brought.  After devouring them we asked for one more while Cara, Betty and I sipped on cappuccinos. We were thinking we could use the caffeine hit. After we paid, John tipped the waiter with US dollars (don't have too many Euros yet) and he gladly accepted them as he is heading to New York later this year and he said he'd save them for his trip. :)

Big John headed back for a nap as the rest of the clan headed for the Hop on Hop off bus. While Guy got info there, Rosalie, Grace and I headed for the Vodafone store where I purchased my first ever international sim card.  Always leery before, I now wish I had done this in the past as the process was easy and the guy from Vodafone was extremely helpful and did the process for me. I told him he was fabulous and he said tell her (as he pointed to the lady next to him...apparently his boss).  Ha Ha. So even though my US phone number is different now, all my apps work and my ipad recognized the new number for my apple ID. Technology! Anyhoo...300 minutes of calls home, 300 text messages and 2GB of data for 35 Euros. Done and Done. Oh yeah...now my apple watch works seamlessly with the phone again. Life in iTechnology world is good.

So after we all hooked up again we met at the tourist shop where where Guy was trying to decide which Hop on Hop off bus to get on. There were several. We usually have great luck with the Red ones, but the lady at the store convinced us it was a better deal to go with the Rome Open Tour. Same deal as the red bus except they don't come by quite as frequently (every 35 minutes vs. every 20 minutes). However, kids ride free and we got 48 hours for the same price as 24 hours with the Red guys (and kids didn't ride free on the Red line). So we weren't sure if she was in cahoots with the Rome Open Tours guys or not, but we trusted her opinion and off we went. Now looking for the yellowish green bus. When it came by we sat in the open air top like we love to do and listened as they drove us around Rome. We actually hopped off at the Vatican because Cara had requested tickets online for tomorrow where the Pope will have an "Audience" and will do a Homily (not the same as a mass) and they had to stand in line. Since it looked like it might be a bit, they stayed as the rest of us headed back to the bus to continue our tour. Well, by this time it is around 3pm and usually when Guy and I travel we eat lunch, take a nap and then head out in the evening. However, this time we are pushing our tired bodies longer than usual, so the Hop on Hop off bus became the Doze on Doze off bus. If it made a stop, so did we (or at least our eyes closed).

Off the bus we headed for the hotel, but Rosalie and I decided we had been in Italy FAR TOO LONG without having a gelato in our bellies...so we stopped for our favorite Italian treat. Boy was it good. Back at the hotel we decided to take a quick nap til John, Cara and the kids got back. The deal was to meet at 6pm in the lobby and we were going to eat a small dinner here in the hotel. Let's just say Guy and I didn't set an alarm. The knock on our door came from Gabby who let us know they were all waiting.  Oops!

Dinner in hotel was nice and we had the basics. Some had pasta, some ham sandwiches, minestrone soups, etc. -simple but delicious.

I'm uploading a few pics I took today with my phone. Just a few from the bus of our sights of Rome. Tomorrow the forecast is for rain, so we'll see what that brings us. So for now...I'm going on well over a day without a shower, so I'm hitting that and then the bed. Thanks to all who prayed for safe travels. Prayers always accepted.