kellementology

life according to me

Tag: Rome

  • Un-jetlagging

    We arrived back in Paradise last night at about 7:00 after an 11-hour flight from Rome to Cincinnati, then yet another delightful 5-hour flight just about as far as one can go in a Southwesterly direction in these United States.  Long.

    Did I say long?

    Way long.

    I peeked out of my left eyeball in the taxi on the way home from the airport, not quite able to see normally after failing yet again at trying to sleep sitting up, and squeezed in the backseat between my boys, weighed down with carry-on bags the driver couldn’t possibly crush in his already packed trunk.

    In my next life, I will live on the Right Coast so that I can enjoy shorter flights to Europe.

    It’s 4:20 am, Italy time right now — tomorrow.  And considering I’m on that time about now, and that I’ve been up 16 hours today so far, I should sleep quite a long time tonight.  I’m running on fumes.  Or espresso.

    But it was worth it, because I’ve learned so much about Italy…and me.

    For example:
    Dawn over the Atlantic

    It is totally possible to ride on nearly every type of transportation possible on a vacation.  Didn’t they make a movie about Planes, Trains, and Automobiles?

    The cars are very small.
    Parking in Rome

    There are young people everywhere, and I wonder who their parents are.  Okay, so I really don’t, but still.  What you can’t see is the open market surrounding this guy.
    Is this your son?
    When you think something is old, stop, think again, then understand there’s a whole different level of old.  Julius Caesar was stabbed on the steps of a temple that used to be here.  Like that old.
    Rome
    It would be nice to have a produce market to go to each morning.

    Fresh squeezed orange juice is 6 Euros a glass, and isn’t it nice that there wasn’t a menu.  Can we have two glasses, please?

    Espresso can actually come in a cup that holds one tablespoon.  Really.  For 3 Euros.

    Bad hair days can be experienced by everyone.
    Me on Vacation

    It is still possible to get all worked up over religious iconography.  Like, you know.  Moved to tears.
    Inside St. Peter's

    But, yes, we’re back. And since I’m falling off my chair, I’ll wait to put this all in some kind of order.

    ‘night.

  • Already planning for summer vacation…

    The MoH and I have saved ninety gazillion points on our respective plastic money over the past couple of years in anticipation of another trip to Europe. When my sister first told me a while back that she charged everything to collect points, I thought…Yer kiddin’! And then promptly jumped on the bandwagon.

    Now before you get your drawers in any kind of a serious knot about thinking this is not a good idea, please know you actually have to pay the plastic money off as you go or you’re screwed. Count that as your “don’t do this at home” warning type message because I don’t even want to listen to you whine if you figure out you have no will power. Okay, well maybe I’ll listen a bit. But that’s all.

    Moving right along…

    We totally enjoyed a trip to the UK two summers ago and loved every minute of the seven days and 750 miles we drove from Manchester down to Bakewell for a few hours visit to Chatsworth House, and then to Conwy in Northern Wales, down to Powys-Knighton, Bath, Glouchester, Stow-in-the-Wold and on to London . I’m sure I have the order a bit screwed up toward the end there, but you get the general idea.

    We lovingly referred to it as The Toads’ Wild Ride because we didn’t especially love driving on the wrong side of the road in that tiny vehicle that tried really hard to be a van but failed. It was cute, though, stuffed as it was with the three of us not so small people and our tons of luggage. We loved the people we met, the amazingly beautiful green countryside (nary a freaking palm tree in sight…), the castles, and the tiny villages we’d miss if we blinked as we passed through. It makes my heart ache just remembering. It is soooooooo hard not to venture right back and see the parts we didn’t see. Sigh. Like that could actually happen when there is so much else to see in the world.

    And since we used plastic for that trip, it actually helped pay for this next one. Points, points, and more points. So where are we off to this next summer courtesy of our points? Italy. Now how completely cool is that? “We” includes one of my older sons who is paying for his own air fare, thank you very much! And…I think my sister’s family is going to meet us there, too, so this could be downright party time for us all. Or pandemonium.

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