Oh - Otranto!

 

Another White Knuckle Day in the Car Ends Well

 

Traversing Trani

 

Observations after a full week in Italy

 

The Road is Long from Abruzzo to Puglia

 

You Seriously Can't Get There From Here...

 ... or Adventures in L'Aquila!

Do Laundry While the Winds Blow

 

Day One in Nettuno is Family Day

 

On the road... again...

 

Day Two in Rome

 Yesterday was Jewish Rome. Today was a Jewish perspective on a very Christian location - The Vatican!

Day One in Rome

 

From Denver to Rome

What a long, long trip from Denver to Rome! We left the house where we were staying at 7 o'clock on Tuesday morning in Denver. We had a very smooth trip to Newark, getting in shortly after 4pm. After traveling from Terminal A to Terminal C, we headed straight for the Polaris Lounge. We sat in economy plus on our first flight - which Lou didn't seem to get the gist of. He did ask me about the Polaris Lonunge, like why did we have it. (He'd also asked me why we had priority TSA clearing. I just shrugged and said, "I don't know.") The kids and I were all excited about Lou realizing we were sitting in Polaris. At first I think he thought the entire plane was set up as large as the cabin that we were sitting in.

On the flight, all I did was eat or drink or sleep. We were given water immediately before anything else happened. As soon as we were off the ground, I got some sparkling wine. Next were hot nuts, a glass of wine, a glass of water, and finally our multi-course meal. Lou and I watched The Book Club - The Next Chapter while we ate since it took place in Italy.After that, I laid out my lay-flat seat and more or less took a nap. Can hardly say I slept for the night since it was under 4 hours.

I woke up with less than 2 hours left of the flight. Snacks were being served... and I rewatched 2 episodes of Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy. Then it was time for breakfast! Seriously. We landed shortly after.

Immigration is so automated, so much quicker and so much easier. Then onto the taxi line which seemed to take forever. Our crazy Roman taxi driver didn't disappoint. I had to cover my eyes at points. He dropped us off directly across the street from our hotel - but no where near a crosswalk. We had to walk 2 blocks to a crosswalk - and then 2 blocks back. Of course our room wasn't ready. We were tired so stopped into the first pizzeria that we passed. The waiter was quite a character. First pizza!

Back to the hotel. Lou napped. When he woke up, we walked around the neighborhood. We went to Piazza Navona and Campo di Fiori, both plazas that I'd been reading about over and over again. First gelato!