Friday, May 23
The Riella’s are to blame!
The Riella’s are to blame! That’s
my story and I’m sticking to it!
We had a flight from SFO to JFK with a two hour layover and
then on to Rome. And what should
happen? A sevenhour lay over! Since we’ve never had this happen before, and
since John and Jacque seem to have this happen to them whenever they
travel…we’ve decided to place blame upon them!
Really….a few hours of being detained is no big deal. After all…a safe landing at your destination
is what matters, and we were blessed with that.
But after getting up at 4:00 a.m. to prepare for our departure from SFO,
the approximate 14 hours of flight time, and the layover time, we arrived
groggy and spent. But we only had three
days to see Rome….and there is so very much to see…so we landed and took off
running.
First goal…find a taxi and get into Rome central. We found one with an exceptionally jovial
driver. He entertained us for the forty
minutes of driving time, which was wonderful, but there was one problem. We realize the Italians are known for their
love of gesturing. And of course,
looking one in the eyes when speaking is polite. But Claudio did not seem in the least
concerned that he was following both of these social practices while driving on
a highway. He would cajole us with some
wild story while turned around completely to speak to us and using both hands
to gesture throughout the story. Ummm…Claudio….hate
to interrupt, but you have driven out of your lane and only missed an accident
because all of the other drivers on the road are doing the same thing. Ahhh….Italy….we have arrived!
My favorite Claudio story is about his visit to the
USA. Just as when my relatives met Larry
and they had to tell him about every Japanese person they’d ever met (and
expecting him to know them), I find people in other countries seem to feel an
urge to tell us about their travels to our country, thinking they must have traveled very near our homes. Well,
Claudio’s only visit to America was actually just a layover. He was headed to Puerto Rico and had a five
hour layover in Miami. He and his
buddies didn’t want to spend five hours in the airport so they headed out to a
bar. Seven days later they realized they
never made it to Puerto Rico, but they had had a very good time…at least as
much of it as he can remember!
We get checked into our hotel and although we looked like,
and acted like, the Walking Dead (now operating on no sleep for about 36
hours) we ventured out into the city. I
have read (you will soon notice that I use this phrase often) that the best
thing to counteract jet lag is to resist the urge to nap and instead get out in
the sunshine and force yourself to stay awake until an appropriate bed
time. So we got on a Hop On Hop Off bus
(HO HO for short) and got an overall view of Roma, the Eternal City.
This city will always take my breath away. Antiquities and excavation sites are
everywhere. As an American, with our two
hundred year history, my jaw drops when I realize I’m looking at two thousand
year old buildings. And walking on
stones that Julius Caesar may have trod.
Pinch me!
After the overview of the city, we headed to the Trastavere
area to find a restaurant following our buddy’s, Claudio’s, suggestion. We found a charming little restaurant and
enjoyed the meal while trying to keep our faces from falling into the food
(exhausted!). Time for bed. Ciao!
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