Headed back to Rome

On Tuesday morning (today) we got up and went down to breakfast at around 9:30am.  We decided to wait it out a few days with his work thing.  He has a business partner and a President at home working on the issues, but it is very hard to be a business owner and know there is something major going down that you are not there to deal with. I understand his stress.

A couple more pictures from Florence...

This was a cute little Ristorante we ate in

Tim might be a little slap happy from being hungry.

Cheers!

I am sorry babe, I am not eating that. It's not even dead, I think I heard it Moo!

Language lesson: One of the few cases where an N is not an N, it turns into an M sound when it comes before an F. Ah hell, I don't care how you pronounce it, just pour me some.

Again explaining the language thing.

A Glorious Day! I hope the guy that shot him gets a medal.

Kym, sick and not going anywhere, so working instead.

Can you tell I am not feeling so great here?

Lunchtime again

Ah...the angry pasta! Penne Arrabiatta!

The entrance to to Hotel Davanzatti

One of the many jewelry stores along the Ponte Vecchio

Closing time on the Ponte Vecchio

The smart cars little brother. It's a 3 wheeler! One wheel in front, 2 in back. How funny!

It is so beautiful here

Almost looks like a post card

We got in the car and headed back to Rome.  I wish I could convey the driving situation in Italy.  If you aren’t the one driving, it seems like one big cluster mess.  When you are the one driving and you can kind of see how it all works, it is actually pretty ingenious.  There are blue arrows pointing you in the directions, it is ok to drive in, and “exed” out signs telling you not to drive down certain streets.  We were looking for the green signs. Green signs are for the freeway.  I kept asking, “What does the sign SAY that I am looking for?” Tim would say, “Don’t worry about what it says, just look for green signs.  We finally found the stupid green signs. I guess it really is true, all roads really do lead back to Rome.

These Autogrills are kind of like a giant 7-11.  It's a gas station, convenient store and restaurant all in one. They are all along the freeways. If you blink you will miss it. 

FYI about gas here- we pay what, about 2.90 a gallon right now? The gas here is 2.25 Euro per LITER, which is roughly $5-$6 a gallon

Tim being goofy. I was trying to get himto lighten up a little from being so stressed about his work stuff so went totally silly on me. Silly is better than stress. :)

We got on the road at 10:30am and by 2:30 we were back in the sketchy car parking lot returning the piece of shit car we rented.

Lesson from this, don’t rent a car from a British car Rental agency, and make sure the FIRST thing you ask for is GPS! Hard way to learn that lesson, but it all worked out ok, if you ask me. I had a great time being lost! J

We took a taxi to our Hotel in Rome.  This one is called The Westin Excelsior and it is part of one of our timeshares, which means it is basically FREE (if you don’t include the monthly payment we will be making till we are dead! LOL).  It is absolutely breathtaking!

Entrance to Hotel

Entrance to Hotel. At least it will be easy to find with that bright red Lamboraghini sitting out front!

The lobby

This is the first place we have been in a long time that has electronic stuff for signing in. Finally a little civilization! LOL

Our room. I think it looks a little oriental and not so much Romanish

My first glimpse of Coliseum from cab window.

I got my first glimpses of the Coliseum thru the cab window. We will go see that later.

We got all checked in, unpacked and rested for a few minutes, then went out for a walk, dinner and some medicine for me. I think I might be having an allergy problem.  As soon as I go outside, my nose is running and I am sneezing.  We found some Claritin, which might have helped a little, then headed down the road to some sights. Tim brough his IPAD out which has a map on it. We figured this would be better than nothing even though we weren't online. But hey check THIS out!

IPAD for a map

See the little blue dot? That is US! Somehow, without being online, it knew where we were, as we turned, it would show an arrow to show which direction we were headed! Anyone who knows my husband knows what a gadget/electronics guy he is! This ONE piece of technology has his so freaking happy that it almost makes up for his frustration at being lost the past 4 days! (It only works with certain apps, so it wouldn't have worked in Capua)

Now we have GPS and life is good again! LOL

It looks like this building was round and they cut it in half.

I thought this little fountain was cute.

US

King Triton

The Trevi Fountain!

This was nothing like I expected. Ok, so admittedly, my only experience with the Trevi fountain is from the movie, “When in Rome.” LOL I am pretty sure that isn’t even the right fountain in that movie!

It is beautiful! 

US at the Trevi Fountain. Notice the little girl in the bottom right. She had a big wish to make.

This little girl was making a BIG wish! She must have stood there for 5 minutes with her eyes closed!

Still wishing... LOL

A kiss in front of the Trevi Fountain. The little girl is STILL wishing! LMAO!

Getting ready to make my wish

And I wish for...

I hope it comes true!

Tim preparing to make HIS wish

Good Luck, Tim!

 Is it bad luck to say what I wished for? Well, just in case it is, I won’t say! J

We stopped in at this cute little ristorante called Mi Amore.  I wanted to eat there just because of the name! The waiter let me take a picture with him and in we went.

The menu

MMM...Dinner time!

Tim's dinner, fettucini alfredo. It was yummy but he wasn't sharing with me. Poo.

Guess what I ordered? You got it, my new favorite dish…Arrabbiata, “Angry pasta.” Although, I might be getting tired of it.

"Finito! I can't eat anymore!"

Sitting next to us was a nice couple from San Francisco and we spent the next two hours BSing with them about all the fun places we have been. I love how friendly wine make everyone! The cute waiter guy came by and chimed in every once in a while. Was he flirting with me? I hope so! I hope I am still cute enough for someone else to flirt with me! ;)

So, now we are back in our hotel room and I am waiting for midnight to roll around so I can skype with the kids.  I miss them terribly.

Some things to remember about this trip so far…

1-  The essentials for packing are -3 of each thing. 3 Jeans, 3 tank tops, 3 shirts, 3 long sleeved shirts. Why only 3? Because it seems like every time we go on a trip, I have the wrong things packed. I am either too hot or too cold, (Usually to cold) and I HATE being cold. If it is cold, I end up wearing the same 3 long sleeved shirts over and over again. At least I know I can.

2-  Get a car with GPS.

3-  Bring cold and allergy medications. I had Tylenol this time but I am out. I already bring antibiotics, migraine meds, sleeping meds and help you go potty meds…what’s one more drug?

4-  I left my perfume in Capua. Bummer. I guess someone there will smell good. I bet they are happy, whoever it is, since a lot of them smell like they shower about once a month, if that. Maybe it’s because the water smells like rotten eggs? Oh well, at least they all have bidets and their butts are clean.

5-  There are certain ways to address people in Italian. Ciao is a very familiar way to say hello. Almost flirty if it is said to someone of the opposite sex.  In the touristy areas they all say it though, probably because  that is how we address them.

Italian Lessons for the day:

*Mi Scuzi-Excuse me.

*Penne Arrabiatta- Angry pasta

*Buon giorno-Good day or hello (More formal than Ciao)

*Buona Sera- Good evening (They DO change from *Buon giorno to Buona Sera in the evening).

*Gatzie pronounced Grat-cee-eh. Most Americans leave off the “eh” at the end, butchering it. It means Thank you.

*Ciao pronounced “chow,” means goodbye or hello in a very familiar way.

Prego- has a whole bunch of meanings. You’re welcome, Here ya go, Can I help you? Tim says it’s like waving your hand in the air in a “what do you need?” kind of way.
Allora- most Italians say this at the beginning when they are going to say something to you. It’s kind of like, “Ok, so…”

All in all, a very nice first afternoon in Rome!

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!