When in Rome...perhaps you shouldn't do as the Romans do (Adventures with MooReece con't)

What a productive, educational and foot splitting day!

As much as I like to do my own thing when I travel, when time is limited, tours are the way to go!  You get all of the information generally in a very entertaining fashion and you get to skip all the lineups and see everything you want to see.  The only downside is you time can be restricted but at least it's not wasted.  Sure beats audioguides and reading endless signs to get your education.  Tours are always a little pricier than general admission obviously but as today showed us, worth every penny!

We slept in until 8 (which is late for both of us) and got ready, out the door and off for our little breakfast shortly after 9.   Or maybe it was more like 930... Delicious croissants, dare I say better than France?  Then headed in the direction of the Colesseum.  The biggest item aside from the Vatican on the Rome checklist.  Nothing here in Rome is apparent it seems.  Streets change names randomly and then go back, signs mislead you to non-existant Mickey Ds and entrances to attractions are impossible to find.  Clearly our confused tourist expressions caught the attention of our charming new friend Chad who sold us on the tour.  Skip the 2 hour ticket lineup just to get in to the

Colesseum? Yes please!  English tour guide giving you the educational scoop and answers your questions. Perfect!  A guide will also take you into the Palatino and Roman Forum and spend an hour with you there and then you can wander about as you please.  SOLD!  Did I mention Chad is from New York but has an aunt that lives in Sudbury?  True?  Who knows... maybe he uses that line all the time... but  he was cute, and we probably would have bought the tour regardless.  After selling us on that he gave us a card invitation to a pub crawl for tonight.  2 hours all you can drink/eat and then pub crawl...  DONE!  And smooth Robyn asks "Are you going to be there?"  Yes, yes he is... So as I type this Robyn is making herself all beautiful and ready to have a good time tonight! HAHAHA

The tours were fantastic.  The Colosseum really is as magnificent as they say it is.  How they built that over 2000 years ago is beyond me.  As she described it you could just imagine what it had looked like with all of the marble and the floor of the arena.  AMAZING!  The Palatino and Roman Forum were equally as impressive but we almost missed that part of the tour because Robyn wanted to get her picture taken with some Gladiators (who ripped her off LOL) but the pictures are priceless.  They were there and then they were GONE... our tour group I mean.  So we rushed off in the direction we thought they were going hoping to catch up.  Luckily a nice british guy who was in our group came back to find us and lead us to the group.  Lifesaver! We would never have found them otherwise.  We had a different tour guide for the Palatino and Roman Forum.  His name was David.  Perhaps not as cute as our Chad from USA but still ruggishly cute and this guy was roman and full of personality.  We all know I'm a sucker for guys with personality!  Needless to say I found him very entertaining and a great guide!  Looking forward to hopefully doing another tour with him tomorrow to other sites.

Post tours we explored the rest of the Forum before venturing off for food and the Trevi fountain.  Did I mention nothing is apparent in Rome?  Everything is confusing and clear as mud.  How did it take us 2 hours to find the Trevi fountain that was like 5 min away from where we were?  I'm usually pretty good at reading a map... usually!  Lunch was good.  Robyn was seranated by a man with an acordion.  We walked endlessly and took 1 wrong turn, like we did last night we beebed when we should have bobbed and ended up like a good mile away from the Trevi fountain.  Had we bobbed, we would have been like 2 minutes away.  By this time my feet are splitting and my back is starting to ache.  Other than the 45 min lunch, we did not sit down once for almost 8 hours.  Lying in bed right now, thinking about getting up is not appealing.

I stopped for gelatto again and this particular place had Soy Gelatto and yes, you've heard it here first, Robyn had 3 scoops!  I'm so proud!!!!  Alright, I'm thirsty again... time for more wine!

Dude! Can we touch your Ferrrari? (Adventures with MooReece con't)

Day 2... or as I like to call it - the continuation of Day 1 for me.  Yes I finally DID get some sleep eventually but it took me nearly 40 hours to get a solid 3 hours!  There are some perks to being a chronic insomniac I guess... when traveling and you can't sleep at least you can still function for an extended period of time.  My eyes on the other hand... well they were redder than Satan.

We landed at Fiumancino airport almost 1 hour ahead of schedule - YAY for speeding pilots.  Going through customs was a breeze, in fact it was so slack they didn't even stamp our passports!  PISS OFF!  I paid a small fortune to come visit your country, the least you can do is stamp my passport!  So disappointed.  First thing's first though... after 4 hours in a car, 3 hours in an airport and 8 hours on a plane, we need to wash up.  So there we are in the airport washroom scrubbing our faces and brushing our teeth... so much better!  Luggage took a while but by 1230pm we were on the train with our new Canadian friend Gale (from London) who is also going on the retreat with me next week.  We pulled into Termini, tired, hungry and wanting coffee.  I explained to Robyn that you can't really get a coffee "to-go" here, well you can but they just put your espresso in a paper cup.  You don't even have enough coffee to make it out the door so no point in creating garbage.  We did each get one to go though and her expression was priceless.  We then ventured on with our suitcases to find our Bed and Breakfast which was supposed to be walking distance.  It was a short but bumpy walk and we did find it without much trouble but unlike hotels, bed and breakfasts are in flats and you really wouldn't even know it's there unless you were looking for it.  We arrived at 2pm, rang the buzzer and this bubbly little italian man named Max greeted us, grabbed our stuff and gave us the low-down on how this works!  What a charming little place!  Simple room with AC, WIFI, TV and private bathroom perfect for what we need.  Max is a GEM and we love him already.  Super hospitable and a great host.  After settling in, showering quickly and changing Robyn, Moo and I are out the door ready for our first Roman adventure.  

No real plans, it's already 3pm.  We are hungry and curious so we set out in the direction of San Maggiore and find a restaurant where we enjoy our first real italian meal.  I order my first 1/2 bottle of wine and life is great again!  I completely forgot though that you can't be in a rush when going out for a meal in Italy... they will let you sit there FOREVER until you wave them down and ask for the bill.  We then ventured off into the unknown just walking in different directions, nowhere specific except trying to find a public washroom.  There are none (which I knew) but we kept seeing these McDonald's signs everywhere pointing us towards one... we never found it.  We followed and followed and followed and no McDonald's to be found anywhere.  I figured it would have a public restroom to use.  So we decided after a few hours of wandering to head back and grab a nap before heading out later that night.  I still couldn't sleep... but it was nice to relax.  

We had intentions of trying to  find a bar to have dinner and drinks at but couldn't really find any.  It was dark, it's a new city and well we didn't want to stray too far... we eventually found a little place where we sat outside.  I ordered a full bottle of Montepulciano but he didn't have any and offered me the Montefalco instead saying that it was from the same family and I would likely enjoy.  WOW!!! One of the best wines I've ever set had the pleasure of consuming.  Smooth, dry, delicious.  A great substitute for sure.  The owner of the restaurant also owned an orange Ferrari and while chatting with him he offered to let us sit in it and take pictures if we wanted - HELLZ YES!  Robyn was even going to ask for a ride... but she never did.  I was too busy oggling.  It was a beauty!  We got lost on our way back to the room, stopped for a pastry and took a wrong turn.  Not really lost, just one block over but at nearly 1am in a foreign city when you haven't slept in nearly 40 hours... even being slightly lost is stressful.  Of course I didn't have the map.  $#&*$*$^ Luckily I had one on my iPhone and figured out we were only 1 block over.  Oops!  Should have gotten the guy in the Ferrari to drive us back.  LOL  I was looking forward to crawling into bed but I didn't fall asleep right away and barely slept at all...I did get about 3 hours though so I guess that is better than nothing.

The men here are all very... flirty?!  HAHA!  At least they don't touch (so far) like the French and nothing too creepy has happened.  Well unless you consider Robyn and I more or less chasing down the most beautiful italian man we've even laid eyes on... he passed us on the street and we almost broke into a run to keep up and try to get a picture.  Such losers!  LOL Robyn did get a picture though so good job buddy!  Even if it was just from behind... 

Hey Pope! Can we come visit? (Adventures with MooReece - Italia)

Passport?  Check.  Money?  Got it.  MooReece on board?  Yep!  Alright, let's blow this popcycle stand!

It's been exactly 3 years since MooReece and I found ourselves in Europe and a return trip has been long overdue.  But...Where to go?  What to do?  Well, they did just elect a new Pope... how about Rome?  Ok... so that's not exactly how I decided, but almost.  Similar to our first adventure, I discovered an interesting opportunity in a book that I was reading and decided to look into it.  After a little research on the Internet I found 3 retreats that are offered in Italy and after a little more reading up on the subject I was instantly drawn to the retreat offered on the island of Stromboli in the Mediterranean.  Stromboli is a live volcanic island part of the chain of Aolean islands off the coast of Italy.  No doubt I will fill you all in on more details about the island once I get there but suffice to say that the volcano does erupt regularly (and safely) and when staying on the island you can watch it erupt.  SOLD!  I don't even care what the retreat is about... I just want to go hang out on a volcano in the Mediterranean (who wouldn't?)  Therefore, just like when I found out I could go to the French Riviera and "study" for the summer, this was clearly a no-brainer.  Book it.  That's how I roll.  Press "send" before you chicken out.  Now I need a flight and flights to Rome are alot cheaper than flights to Naples so I guess I'll take a few extra days and visit Rome too.  Bummer, I know...

I honestly don't even remember how Robyn (my trusty human travel companion) got involved in all of this.  She was also planning on going to Europe to visit some friends and when I said I was going to Italy, a place she has never been, we somehow decided to go together.  Everything worked out, we both got our vacation time approved and within a matter of a few weeks flights are booked and there is no turning back.  How exciting!  Fast forward  about 2 months and endless anticipation and here we are.

Currently we are on the plane, somewhere over the eastern coast of Canada edging towards the Atlantic.  Robyn is trying to sleep next to me but the lights are still on in the plane which is making it hard to catch some shuteye.  I'm writing this now in hopes it will tire my eyes and I'll fall asleep...wish me luck!  I always like to fly redeye when going trans-atlantic because you fly overnight when you would normally be sleeping which helps you catch some sleep on the plane (hopefully) and wake up in the morning in another country.  It helps with the jet lag and fatigue for the first day anyways.  So I popped a Gravol and a small 2 oz of complimentary red wine and hoping tthey will kick in a knock me out at least for a few hours.  In case you're wondering, yeah I'm still awake. LOL

I love Robyn.  She's traveled so much and seen so much and even spent 9 months in Australia.  She's my hero!  Until she got lost in Garson that is... Just Kidding Robyn, you're still my hero!  Yes, this girl has been to Europe several times, has been to Australia but can't find her way out of Garson.  We're not even 2 blocks from my house and she's already missed the turn to take us to the highway.  PRICELESS!  After re-directing her and getting us on the right track we arrive at another small town and she asks "where are we?" and I respond, slightly bewildered "Coniston" (now for any of you from Sudbury you understand how funny this is) Not sure where this is going, I assume she's just disoriented having never come this way before, Robyn answers : Woah!  I've never been here before.  *Cue full out laughter* WHAT?!?! Who (from Sudbury) has never been to Coniston?  This trip is going to be AWESOME!!!  We haven't even left the city and I'm already taking Robyn to places she's never been to before.  EXCELLENT!

Aside from traffic, construction, some really bad singing and obviously some ridiculous drivers we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Airport experience was smooth except for the fact that I couldn't get alcohol in my terminal unless I went into the lounge and well I'm too cheap to pay just to get into the bar so screw it - I'll have plenty of wine when I land in Italy!  Overall it's been pretty uneventful, which is never a bad way to start a trip.  We started the flight with a BodyATTACK video and now that the lights are dimmed a little maybe I can catch some zzz.   That is if this cold I caught lets me breathe well enough to sleep.  Anyways Robyn isn't moving anymore so I take it she's out and Moo is tucked away under the seat in front of me so it's time to pack it in.  Hopefully when I wake up I'll need to start brushing up on my Italian.

Ciao