Day 20 Back to Rome

Hurry up and wait.

Guy was up before the alarm(s) went off and was checking out the scenery from the balcony. Italy was again outside our window and it is a beautiful day. We knew it wouldn't be long before we were in the port and the last day of our cruise was coming to an end. Remember about 10 days ago I was feeling a little homesick? Well, that is long gone and the thought of coming home is nice, but I could definitely stay a few more weeks. - So our first hurry up of the day began as we had to be out of our cabin at 8:30am. I started getting ready and we didn't have much to pack up as they collected our bags the night before. Double checking all the drawers, the safe and closets we grabbed our full backpacks and headed for breakfast. We dropped our backpacks on the 5th floor as no need to tote them around for another 2 hours. At breakfast we sat at a new table and had a new server. He was nice. I ended the cruise with 3 pudding filled mini doughnuts in my belly as well as a plate of eggs Benedict and roasted potatoes. Had to fill up as there would be no lunch on the train. Guy's breakfast mirrored mine and it was a good way to start the day. We sat and chatted about cruising. We both like it. It is fun to get glimpses of places to see if you might want to go back and stay for a longer time, but it is also hard to really SEE places unless you go a bit deeper inside. Our favorite cruises have been the Greek Islands, the Baltic Sea and of course the Rhine river cruise. But they are all fun because you get to see new places and your hotel room follows you. No packing and unpacking and you don't have to search out a place to have dinner every night. So that is relaxing.

After breakfast we went up top to look around. Today doesn't seem as hot and hazy, but we still searched out the shade and watched the sights around the port for about 40 minutes. When it came close to time for our group (light blue) to meet in the theater, we hurried down to grab our backpacks and got to the theater. As we waited, they were playing a version of "funniest home videos" on the screen. An international version. We laughed, but some of people on the screen had to of gotten seriously injured from these accidents! As they called light blue, we hurried out of the theater just to wait in a long line to disembark. After getting off we hurried to a shuttle as it took us to the spot where our luggage was. Our bags were marked in the light blue section and we found them easily. We caught a cab and took the ride to the train station. We had about 2.5 hours before our train comes. So now we really wait. I stood in a really long line to make sure that we didn't need a paper train ticket and when I showed the lady my phone, as I had taken a screen shot of my confirmation email with all our info on it, she took a look at my phone and said we can get directly on the train. Man, this is the way to go. Love my technology. Guy suggested I take a picture with his phone just in case my phone died. Good idea!

Time passed kinda slow and we questioned whether or not we should have driven, but soon enough our train pulled in and it is a more stress free way to travel. The train was a nice one and as I entered my senses were overtaken by the smell of men's cologne and sandwiches. Kind of a weird combo, but trust me, it could be worse. As we pulled away we watched the scenery of La Spezia go by and got kinda sad knowing we were nearing the end of the trip. My dear friend Polly posted on Facebook yesterday that her cat of 17 years passed away. I feel so sad for her. 17 years is a long time having a cat be your bff. That does make me ready to be home and hug on my little buddy. I don't think cats understand time, but he has to miss me, right? In the meantime, my mom enjoys him, he's a pretty good little snuggler.

Guy had purchased a cheese and salami sandwich at the train station and pulled it out of his bag for a little train picnic. The snack was followed by chocolate that has been in our ziplock snack bag for about 3 weeks now. Ha Ha. Still totally edible. I thought about reading a book, but I enjoy watching the scenery go by and it was pretty good. Occasionally we'd pass along the Mediterranean and then nice hilltop towns would be on my left. After dozing occasionally and my Apple watch thumping me when it was time to stand, I did get up and move around a bit. The seats are comfortable, but your back does get tired. There is a guy across from me who was asleep on the train when we got on. It's been three hours and yep, he is alive...his eyes are now open. He has long legs...so it is kinda bad when the seats face each other - you can't give your legs a long stretch.

It's cloudy today. Looked like there might even be some rain in the area. We were going to see if we could drop our bags at the Rome train station so we can walk into town for dinner. However, due to higher security now days, we aren't sure if you can do that anymore. So we are going to check it out once we get into the city. I also found out through a Google search that there aren't Starbucks' in Italy. Not sure if it is true or not, but it appears that the Italy Starbucks mug will continue to be missing from my collection. That's cool. Maybe someday!

We arrived in Rome about 4:30. We decided it was too early to go to the airport hotel, so we had the train station hold our bags and we went into town. At the place that holds the bags, there were two girls scantily dressed in super high heels at the baggage x-ray machine. The one girl removed her skirt and had no shirt on. When she turned around it was actually a HE. The facial expressions of the people walking by were priceless. After they left, we walked up and checked our bags. We felt a little over dressed. LOL. So when we exited the train station there was a mob of people. We were smack dab in the center of a rainbow parade. That explains the guy in heels and a fig leaf. We wanted to eat at a restaurant close by the Trevi Fountain called the Patricii et Plebei. We had been there before and they have good pizza. It was a 1.1 mile walk from the train station, but we had been sitting for hours, so we needed to stretch. We mapped it on the phone, but siri wanted us to walk along the same street as the parade and we thought we'd better steer away from the mob. She was confused at first, but got us going on a different path and we made it to the restaurant in good time.

We washed our hands for the longest time. We need a shower bad. But we got our four cheese pizza and bruschetta and filled our bellies leaving some room for gelato (of course). So we walked a few steps to check out the Trevi Fountain. They had it drained and there is quite the undertaking going on. Fixing it, restoring it, cleaning it...not sure. However they had the seating area around it blocked off, but there were still tons of people around the glassed in area taking selfies and tossing coins in on dry ground. Funny and sad at the same time. The fountain is quite spectacular when in operation. I hope these people get to see it again some day. So after our peek at the fountain, I Trip Advisored the best gelato in the area of the Trevi Fountain. It said the Gelateria Valentino was close by and was ranked #5 out of like 500 gelato shops in Rome. So we walked there as it was just a block away. The guy behind the counter was an older guy. He spoke perfect English and was funny. He asked me cone or cup. I said cup and pointed to the next to biggest size. It's my last real gelato for some time, people...no judging! He asked me which flavors and I said coconut, chocolate and pistachio. He said dark chocolate or milk. I said dark. So as he gently placed my gelato in the cup, he was treating it like a masterpiece. When finished filling my cup, he took a little spoon and scooped some of the pistachio out and handed it to me and said "taste the best pistachio gelato in the world. You don't like, you don't pay". So I took the spoon and agreed that it was pretty darn fabulous. Then he gave me the cup and told me to eat the pistachio first, then the coconut, and finish with the chocolate. OR I could mix the chocolate and the coconut. I had the pistachio eaten before I realized I had not taken a photo! So part of it is missing, but I ate it as he said. However, the dark chocolate was so intense I had to mix it with the coconut and it tasted like a mounds candy bar. YUM! Great way to end our time in Rome. Oh yes, the owner insisted we sit down, as we were just standing outside the shop, so he brought out two folding chairs and we had a seat. Guy spoke with him later and he said they'd been there 50 years. We also talked about Trip Advisor and how it does your marketing for you. So after our fun experience at the gelateria, we made our way to a taxi stand and took a ride back to the train station. The mob had cleared and navigating the street was much easier now. We went inside and Guy bought tickets at the self serve machine and we went down to collect our bags. I had a bit of cash (not much) and my ipad in my backpack. We were a little concerned, but didn't want to drag our stuff around the city. Happy to say that nothing had been bothered and I recommend the service.

The train ride was about 30 minutes and the scenery was pretty ghetto, but we took in our last views of Rome, where old meets new. It's an interesting place, that is for sure. I love to visit it - but definitely couldn't live there. As we got to the airport, we hoofed it to the Hilton that is connected to the airport by several covered paths. The elevator was broken, so we carried our bags down a couple of flights and finally made it to the check in desk - sweaty, tired and at the wrong hotel. I could see the look on Guy's face and knew something was up. We were supposed to be at the Hilton Garden Inn. The British couple standing there said "we just came from there, we were at the wrong place". Well, apparently the Hilton we were at was ALMOST full, not full, but ALMOST full and wouldn't let us stay. They tried to call us a cab, but there were none. They have two shuttles out front with both Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn on them, but they can't take us there. They called the Garden Inn and they won't come get us because they are too busy. So after about 20 minutes, we again hoofed it, bags in tow, to the bus stop, where we could ride the airport bus around the 30 minute loop to the Garden Inn. Guy, a bit frustrated at this point, hailed a cab and told him where we were wanting to go. He said "No - take the bus" and drove away. At this point we are laughing a bit (a bit). Finally after hitting every parking lot at the Rome airport, it finally made its final stop at the Hilton Garden Inn. Luckily our room was ready, the girl at the desk was extraordinarily nice, and gave us a room on the ground level. Guy was going to complain about them not shuttling us, and I agree they are sister hotels and apparently this happens ALL THE TIME they said, and they should make it a bit easier on the customer.  Still, not their fault we were at the wrong location. But tomorrow the breakfast is free, the room is clean and Guy said the shower is great. No wash cloths...sigh, but they do have conditioner!! Partial score!

So as I bring today's blog to a close, it is also the final post for my Italy and the Med 2015 blog. No need to blog about our flight home as I'll be in a medically induced coma and I won't remember too much anyway. So by tomorrow at 6:30pm, we should be back in St. Louis and it will be the end to another wonderful vacation. This one especially was great. We enjoyed vacationing with the entire family. Wonderful memories were made. And you know how it is. The grass is always greener somewhere else and we wonder why we live in Southern Illinois sometimes, but when it comes down to it, home is where your family is. And that is where are hearts are.

As always, prayers accepted for safe travels home and we are so very appreciative of God's blessings.