Oot and Aboot in Strasbourg (3/11)

Oh boy did we sleep in today! We rolled outta bed...around...12 maybe? Adam was clearly tired from the drive. I was just...lazy. Had to get my pics up on FB to keep the fans entertained.

We left Andy's apartment around 1pm to head toward central Strasbourg, and of course, food was our main purpose initially. We stopped at a pasta/sandwich place before crossing the bridge to the island that is downtown Strasbourg. Happy tummies later, we found our way into town. It was so cute! Shops and restaurants everywhere! If only our tummies could have waited, we could have had Turkish food, or kebabs, or something probably much more tasty (and unique) than pasta and sandwiches. Well, we skipped dessert on this meal so that left the opportunity for a bakery visit!

When Andy and his girlfriend Marina told us about Strasbourg, they told us that there was a lot of history about the place because it had been annexed by Germany, then it was French again, then Germany, etc. We could really see the German influence on some of the buildings in Strasbourg. And, almost every street had names in both French and German. We spent a good few hours walking around checking out the sites, and wandered into the Notre Dame Cathedral there. I found that it most resembled the Duomo in Florence, at least in terms of the outside design. It was pretty chilly out, and we had done a fair amount of walking, so we decided to take the train a few stops back to Andy's apartment. When we got there, they were taking their cat outside for a walk. The cat is more like a dog - tons of energy, loves to explore and play. So Adam and I just sat inside the warm apartment thawing out. When Andy and Marina came back, we decided to go out for dinner for our last night together! They took us to a place in the center of town that they go to for brunch, but also have a good dinner menu. One of the downsides to being Strasbourg was that many people didn't speak English as we had found in the other cities. Thankfully, Andy and Marina helped us translate on the menu so we knew what to order. I got a big salad with goats cheese and toasted bread, and some fresh vegetables, and finished off my meal with a belgian waffle and whipped cream for dessert! See if I hadn't had the salad, I couldn't justify the waffle, but I planned all this out.

We had planned to go to the Academy of Beers because they have almost 100 options for beers! We were stoked about the option ahead of time, but once again, exhaustion hit for all of us, and we decided to just take the train back home for a quiet and early night to bed. Here I am saying goodnight in Andy's apartment. Only one more night of the road trip with Adam, tomorrow is our last driving day. What a trip it's been!

Driving through Switzerland! (3/10)

Today's wake up was a bit of a mess. See, when I fell asleep last night, my phone was low on battery and beeping every few minutes to indicate it was so. However, I couldn't plug it in because I left the charger in the car overnight with the majority of my things. I only brought in my backpack with enough clothing and toiletries for overnight. So I knew I couldn't charge it overnight, nor did I want to leave it on overnight to potentially lose all power and/or beep every few minutes, keeping me up, and probably annoying the other girl who was in the female dorm (so much for being alone!). I decided to turn it off before I went to bed, thinking that I would wake up at some point in the morning when light started peeking in the room, and I could turn on the phone and see what time it was. If it was close enough to 8am, I could just keep the phone on, setting the alarm for an appropriate time to wake up for breakfast. Well, this all obviously didn't happen the way I planned. I woke up at sometime in the middle of the night, figured I should check the phone to see what time it was, and funny enough, the phone turned on but was reset at midnight for January 1st, 2007. So I searched through the date and time settings to fiddle with it and try to sort it out. It's a cell phone, so, it always displays the time and date according to a satellite (or something like that, so they say). Well the phone didn't want to correct itself, so I attempted to find the right time zone and daylight saving time selection. It was about 6am, or so I thought. I set the alarm for 8:15am, so I could snooze once, and go down to breakfast in the hostel lobby at 8:30. The alarm went off as planned, I snoozed as planned, and got ready for breakfast as planned. I got downstairs, with my computer, so I could upload some pictures to Facebook and check my email if need be. Also, if Adam wasn't down there yet, or had already come, I figured the computer could keep me temporarily busy until I saw him. At around 8:40, I emailed him saying "Hey I'm at breakfast" incase he was in his room and able to check email on his iPhone. It finally got to just around 9am, and I called him because I didn't want him to truly sleep through breakfast, and we had to be out of the hostel by 10am anyways. He didn't pick up, but texted me back saying "breakfast." I assumed that meant he was coming. He walked into the lobby, looking like he had just woken up, which he confirmed, and I said, "you slept later than you thought" and he said - what do you mean it's only 8:00. I said really, my phone says it's 9; I didn't want you sleeping through breakfast. Well it seems as though my phone reset itself to Israel time (GMT+2) instead of Europe time (GMT+1). So then I realized - I was at breakfast at 7:30, not 8:30. I was done with my breakfast by 8am, not 9am. And, I woke Adam up before he really wanted to be up.

What a great way to start the day, huh?

Adam and I went back to our respective rooms to get our bags and load up the car once again, and we were on the road by about 9:30am. Destination for today: Strasbourg, France. This meant we got to drive through Switzerland. One more country to put on the list! Leaving from Como, it was only a few minutes until we hit Switzerland. The scenery on our drive was absolutely majestic. Snow capped mountains, lakes, valleys, trees, small towns, more mountains, more lakes; it just kept going. We decided to stop along the way for some lunch, and it was a good opportunity for us to practice German. My last name is German, so naturally, I know how to speak the language. Right. Actually, because of some of the Yiddush I know, I was able to figure out some things on the restaurant menu more easily than Adam. Fleisch - is meat. I stayed away from those items. Some things on the menu looked so similar to English that it was just easy to figure it out. Tomantensuppe is tomato soup! And other things on the menu we just had no idea we had to ask. Zweibeln is onions. I steered clear of the dish with zweibeln so I wouldn't contaminate the car with my stinky breath. A quick stop into the gift shop and pay our lunch bill, and we were back on the road again. Not much more to Switzerland before crossing the Rhein River and getting back into France. Racial profiling is certainly at its best at the border, because we saw at least 10 cars go straight through customs when we were stopped, asked for our passports, asked about our trip, how long we were in Europe for, even asked us if we had anything to declar including 10,000 Euros or the equivalent in US Dollars (we told them we wished!). Fortunately, we didn't get searched - not because we have something to hide but just because it would be a huge waste of time - for us and for them. A few minutes later and another river crossing behind us, we were officially back in France. And so was our car radio. American songs, yes, but French radio. Right on the border, pretty impressive.

We arrived in Strasbourg, and had no problem finding Andy's apartment with the directions on the GPS. We parked across the street since there was no parking in front of the building, and went for a little walk to kill time until we could meet up with Andy and get into the building. After a few minutes went by, a parking spot opened up right in front of the building, so I told Adam to run to the car and drive it over, and I'd stand guard! Fortunately, no one came for the spot while Adam was moving the car, so I didn't have to fight off any French people for a parking spot. We called Andy who was inside, he had us come up and welcomed us to his fabulous apartment!

I was pretty desperate for a nap, seeing as the night and early morning situation didn't work out too well for me. I ended up sleeping for almost 2 hours! So much for thinking it would be less than an hour. Andy and his girlfriend Marina order from a restaurant in the next building that has both Indian and Italian food. The Indian food sounded pretty appealing to me, because we have eaten so much pasta and bread and pizza lately. So I ordered a vegetarian dish, and Andy and Adam both ordered some chicken. Marina wasn't very hungry so she had some light snacks from the fridge. We all sat down together at their table and it was like having a family meal together; it was so comfortable and homey. We decided to stay in for the night and go out tomorrow and try all the Belgian beers at a nearby bar. So after a 45 minute phone call to mom (Andy has free calls to North America!), I am finally now heading to bed.

Goodnight - Bon Nuit!

A little town called Como (3/9)

Today we said goodbye to Venice. It was a good thing and a bad thing to have to say the goodbye. I had a lovely time there, but it was very very crowded and also freezing cold! It was also very easy to get lost there so we spent a fair amount of time wandering around not having a clue where we were. We had to clear out of our hotel (after breakfast, of course, you take it when you can get it) by 11am anyway, so we got our things packed up and walked over to San Marco to catch a boat back to Piazzele Roma, where our car was parked in the garage. Having been on a few boats yesterday, I kind of managed to figure out which boats went in which direction, so instead of Adam waiting in line for his ticket, we caught a boat headed in the right direction that was already at the dock (and they don't wait for you - you have to catch it just in time!) and he bought his ticket on the boat.

Back to Piazzele Roma and we got back to the parking garage. 60 Euro later (2 days of parking) and we were out of the garage and on our way to our final Italy location - Como. We read in the Rick Steves book that there was a hostel there in the cute little town of Como, so we called last night and found out they had tons of space. We wanted to drive there, check it out, and then make our decision. I was pretty excited to stay in a hostel for a change - for the price and also the environment. The drive took us through Verona and Milan, but we ended up stopping just at a restaurant at a rest station like thing. It was a gas station and a restaurant all in one. It was a good break, and we needed to kill some time anyway because the hostel didn't open for check in until 4pm anyways. By the time we arrived in Como it was about 3:15, so we parked in a lot right near the Lake, and walked around a little bit checking out the scenery. It was gorgeous!!! It reminded me of Lake George, not because it really looked like Lake George but just because it was what was most in my head that it could look like. We spoted an airport on the lake, some docks, huge homes, and surrounding hills. We tried to kill as much time as possible until just after 4pm when we returned to the car to drive back to the hostel, pulled into the parking lot, and went to the lobby. When I had called yesterday to inquire about the rooms, the woman spoke very good English, and explained that there were no private rooms, so for 2 people (1 male, 1 female), we'd have to split up and each stay in our assigned dorm - one for males and one for females. No problem for us. She let us see the rooms before deciding, and they were both pretty empty of people. It was very promising, so we paid up and checked in. We took her advice on taking a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain facing the hostel, because it offered great views of the town, the lake, and the upcoming sunset. We hopped back in the car and drove around the downtown area of Como (there were no through streets) and started wandering around for parking. We got lost a few times, ended up on a street that dead ended and Adam had to back up the car, almost hitting the back corner into a wall. It was kind of scary! We passed the main parking lot a few times, but there were no spots. So we took another big circle around the area by the bus station, in hopes of some spot opening up somewhere.

We turned back around, heading for the same parking lot, and I spotted 1 parking space in the lot. We got it! We paid for our parking at the little machine, threw the ticket on the dashboard, and stopped for a brief moment to capture the beautiful sunset over the Lake. Then we dashed into the building to catch the gondola. It was right there, so we were about to put our tickets into the machine to gain entry to it, and the doors shut! Man, just when we wanted to see the sunset over the lake, we missed it. If we hadn't gotten stuck on that tiny little street and had to turn around, or had left from the hostel a few minutes earlier, or lucked out with parking, maybe we could have made it! But we decided to get into the next gondola anyways because the sky must have been turning beautiful colors anyway.

A few minutes went by while we snapped some photos on the lake, and we certainly didn't want to miss the next one up to the top, so we gained entry to the gondola with our tickets, and took our seats. A few more people boarded as well, and the gondola took off. What we failed to realize in our haste of getting to the gondola in time to make the sunset, was that, the higher we climbed, the more sun we could see again. We didn't miss the sunset after all. In fact, we had a beautiful view of the sunset from the gondola, and even prettier views from the top of the mountain.

We spent about a half an hour at the top, taking photos from some panoramic viewpoints, and watching the sky turn orange, red, pink, and yellow. The lake and the trees caught the colors of the sun as it went down. I just hope my camera capture the colors as well as seeing it through my own eyes. I have discovered that I really enjoy taking photos but my camera is not exactly professional photography quality. I might invest in a really nice camera to use for scenery and travels in my future.

We caught the gondola back down to the bottom of the mountain and got in the car to go back to the hostel. We had about an hour to kill before dinner so naturally, we spent our time in the hostel lobby on the internet, checking email, sports scores, and talking with people from home. I skyped with my dad (mom wasn't home), and talked to a bunch of people on g-chat, while starting to eat dinner. The servers at the hostel were so attentive and sweet; we had a lovely homecooked meal, including bread, salad, a drink of choice, a huge bowl of pasta (perhaps the best I've had since being in Italy) and for me, a vegetarian dish specially made for me - an omelette! Adam's meat meal was veal, so it was a very good thing I told them I was a vegetarian. Actually, it was a good thing that when we checked in, the dinner menu had a sign that said vegetarian option available for dinner if requested. The dinner was lovely!

We booked our hotel for Paris, our last one of our trip, and decided that the night was really coming to a close. I still had to shower, and then I could go to sleep. Adam and I split up, went to our respective rooms, and I took out my towel and toiletries. I pulled out my pajamas and left them in the bathroom on a stool outside the shower stall, for quick access. I was a little worried about the cold, so I made sure the heater in the bathroom was on, and waited a while for the water in the shower to get hot. Once it was warm enough, I jumped in for a nice relaxing shower - so needed! Unfortunately, a few minutes into the shower, the lights went out - POOF! Just like that. I thought that maybe the lights were motion sensitive, so I stuck my arm out from the shower curtain and waved it around in hopes of the light coming back on. I even tried the light switch on the side of my shower, since each stall had its own light. Nothing was working. I couldn't hear the heater blowing air anymore, so I thought there might have been a power failure. I started panicking a little bit that the hot water might run out while I was in there - yikes! I decided to do a super fast shower and just get out of there so I could see the light again. I grabbed my towel to dry off and attempt to warm up, and of course, the lights came right back on. I was so frustrated, AND so cold, that I just wanted to put my clothes on and head to bed. I'll just need a really good full nice long hot shower tomorrow night when we arrive in Strasbourg, to make up for this lack of a good shower.

Turning off the phone tonight to save some of the battery, in hopes of not oversleeping and missing breakfast in the morning!

Venice in the cold (3/8)

I started the day with another hotel breakfast! Chocolate croissant, cereal, yogurt, orange juice - delicioso! Adam and I decided to have another splitsies kinda day since our interests differed. I really wanted to go to the Murano Glass Factory (on the island of Murano, at least one boat ride away) because I had heard from a few people that it was a must see! Adam wanted to check out St. Mark's square and stay more local. So I pulled on multiple layers (it's so cold out!) and went for the dock. I got a 36 hour ticket which means I have unlimited use of any boatride in the city for today and tomorrow, to get us back to shore. I knew if I got it I would have to make it worth my purchase, so going to Murano was a good start.

The boat took a few stops until it got to Murano and as soon as I got off, there were glass and jewelry shops everywhere. I don't think this island sells anything else! Besides food of course. I read in the Rick Steves book that many shops offer free demonstrations of glass blowing so I went into one of the first places I saw and asked. He didn't have any demonstrations in his shop but directed me to the factory itself. I had to pay 5 Euro to enter, and then I was allowed to go back into the glass blowing room. I saw "the master" (that's what they are called!) create a beautiful flower vase, and a statue of a small horse. He is so clearly trained in exactly what to do from the melting and the blowing and the decorating and the using of tools to help shape his piece. Another man who spoke English helped to explain what the master was doing. I thoroughly enjoyed the demonstration and then felt like I could peruse the selections in the shop. A young man, who I believe is from Brazil (but lives here now) followed me all around the store explaining to me what many items were or how they were made. I told him I'd be a while, because I really wanted to look around and see what was there. He followed me every step of the way. Maybe they do this with everybody because they want to make sure no one steals, or breaks anything, or maybe he works on commission! Totally possible. Anyway, he was really nice and helpful, and I picked out a few items to take back home. I spent the next 45 minutes or so, just walking around the island. More and more shops, more and more jewelry, tons of people going in and out of all the shops. I happened to see one more free demonstration of a man creating butterflies. It was in a very small shop just on the main street that I happened to see. He was sitting right there in the front of the store, and people were taking pictures and asking him questions. He made the same shape butterfly over and over again. I guess it makes it easier, cheaper, faster, and then items that are sold look more consistent with one another. I was fascinated, took a few pictures, but left anyway. I popped my head into a few other shops but at that point, it was enough looking. They all started to look the same.

I got to the boat dock to head back toward the hotel, figured out which boat to wait for, and after about 15 minutes, it arrived. I was planning to take it to the Piazzele Roma and transfer to boat #1 which goes through the entire Grand Canal, but I happened to pull out my map just in time. I was at the stop right before the synagogue! I hadn't made any plans to go see the synagogue here (just like I didn't really plan it elsewhere), but I thought - it must be a sign! I'm supposed to see it! So I got off at the next stop and found the Jewish Ghetto very easily. It is right by the boat stop about a block into the neighborhood. The Museo Ebraico and the Synagogue were both accessible via a tour (in English!) and it was going to start in 20 minutes. I saw a couple of signs for a Kosher Restaurant just nearby, and I thought it might be a good idea to keep the money in the religion. So instead of getting something at one of the bigger restaurants, I popped into the dairy side of a meat restaurant, that was more like a cafe, and got a sandwich! The best part about it was that I also got a hamentaschen cookie! It was so cool to see similar foods in a different country. They had a small market/bakery in the area as well.

I went back to the Museo to purchase my ticket for the tour, and although the lady who I spoke with wasn't so nice and friendly, she made for an excellent tour guide. I had no idea she'd be the one giving the tour; she must have been in a bad mood or just annoyed from having to sit behind a desk all that time. Her English was great, and I'm pretty sure she is Jewish based on some of the words she used during the tour, to help show 3 of the 5 synagogues in the Jewish Ghetto, and some of the ritual items and holidays she mentioned. There were only 6 of us on the tour and I couldn't tell (besides one man wearing a kippah) who was Jewish and not. I can't imagine so many people wanting a tour of something Jewish if they themselves are not, but here, the Jewish Ghetto has so much history, so it is definitely likely. I could not take any photos inside the synagogues but I was able to snap some shots of the outsides of them once the tour was over. I hopped back on the boat heading toward San Marco to come back to the hotel.

Adam was in the hotel room taking a nap (poor baby, so tired!) and I decided to head out to do some laundry. Last night we passed a place on our walk back to the hotel that is open until midnight every night, so I had planned on doing some laundry today - getting kind of desperate! Found the place again (through a roundabout way getting there, not really remembering the shortest route) and got change for the machines. Mission fairly successful. Only brought a few damp items back to the hotel to air-dry overnight.

We finally mustered up the energy to go out for another night in Venice in hopes of Mardi Gras not being a bust! Tonight I read there would be a boat show/parade at 11pm starting from the Rialto bridge going to San Marco and ending in the boat basin there, so we incorporated that into our evening plan, went to fine dinner wherever we could (ended up with some sandwiches and pizza) and checked out the Rialto Bridge area for bars one more time. So desperate to make our time here memorable for Mardi Gras! It turned out that there were a ton of people, but really, too many people, and not exactly fully coherent. So we did some people watching, bounced from pizza place to pizza place, attempted to watch the so-called boat show at 11pm from the Rialto Bridge, and when that was a bust, we quickly checked out San Marco before heading back to our hotel. Either we missed something entirely, or the description in the booklet I read earlier was not 100% true. Oh well, we are both reading until we fall asleep tonight.

Buonna notte Venice!

Venice here we come (3/7)

Today I had my first breakfast-in-a-hotel on this trip so far! I woke up in time to start packing up, grab a bite to eat (including yogurt, a hearty whole grain roll, some orange juice, and some tea!), and we loaded up the car to get on the road. Fortunately, today was our shortest drive yet, and we made it!

Venice is on a tiny island in northeast Italy - I didn't know this until I was looking in the tourbook and on maps. We had to leave the car in a garage on "land" and then take a boat to our hotel which was on the island. We basically had no idea what to do or where to go, and vaguely followed directions from the Rick Steves book to make it happen. The boats here are called vaporettos, and they operate like city buses or subways. This is public transportation on an island built from the water, with bridges, and canals, and tiny sidewalks. So our first vaporetto ride took us to San Marco, which is St. Mark's Square. Our hotel was nearby (we thought) so in the middle of a bustling crowd of people by the docks (some of whom were all decked out in masquerade attire for Carnevale/Mardi Gras), we looked for our hotel in the Rick Steves book because we knew it was listed there, and maybe it was on the map of hotels or he gives walking directions. Turns out, it WAS on the hotel map! Lucky us. A few turns down teeny tiny little streets and alleyways, and it opens up into a small square with our hotel - Casa Querini. (I took a picture - shocker.)

We were able to check in right away, and put our things in the room. Stop number 1 - lunch. We wandered over to a nearby square, in an attempt to find some food. We restaurant hopped a bit, finding 2 stands of fresh fruit and candy by the kilo (just like at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem!), a church (oh right, we're in Italy), and finally decided on a restaurant. I started with a soup and had a vegetable omelette. Adam got the "Menu Turistico" which included a primo piatti (first plate) of spaghetti pomodoro (spaghetti with tomato sauce) and a segundi piatti (second plate) of 1/4 pollo arroste (1/4 roasted chicken). We were both pretty happy with the meal, but unhappy when the bill came and we had to pay extra for our water (um, hello, water is the source of life, you shouldn't have to pay for it, especially when your waiter tells you it's "on the house" but the owner gives you your bill and claims to not understand what you're saying about the waiter's comments earlier), and the service charge was added to the bill. We were both pretty sure that the menu said service was included. So...we didn't put up a fight, but it was a waste of 9 Euro. The food was really good though! That's how the cookie crumbles I guess

I was so desperate for a nap from having woken up before my body was actually ready, so we went back to the room for some much needed naptime! Over 2 hours later, we both finally woke up (after manys snoozes on the alarm clock on my phone), and got ready to go out to find a restaurant and somewhere fun to go later. It's Carnevale and Mardi Gras so there must be something! We tried finding a square that was recommended by the guy downstairs at our hotel (who circled it on the map he gave to Adam) who told us there were discotechs there (assumed some restaurants too) and ended up getting SO lost! We walked over bridges, down small streets and dark alleyways, walked back over more bridges, it just never ended. We decided to give up on the disco and went toward San Marco. There are tons of signs everywhere for San Marco, so we knew that wouldn't be a big problem! We got there and saw a huge performance and stage in the square, but we had JUST missed whatever it was that was going on. Bummer. We finally found a restaurant that looked good - had a good selection, not too expensive, and the guy outside brought us in and sat us down at a table near the front of the restaurant. We made our selections on the menu and were just waiting for the waiter to come take our order. Our waiter seemed to disappear, and another came to the rescue, or so we thought. He came to the table, we asked him some questions just to clarify some things, and then he turned around to take an order from another table, and walked away. Well at that point, we had waited so long, and we knew there was another restaurant down the street, that we left our menus on the table, took our things with us and left. I don't know if I've ever done that before (!) but I was so fed up with our treatment, that I didn't want to give them the business anymore.

We walked into the next restaurant, and we were treated like royalty! It was night and day - unbelievable. Our food came out very quickly, and it was so nice. The wait staff answered our questions about where to go out later, made jokes with us, so naturally, they were our new best friends. It was such a nice experience, and good food!

We took the waiter's advice to go to Rialto (which is one of the main bridges over the Grand Canal) in search of other young people and some drinks! Well there were definitely young people, and by young people I mean like the age that would be illegal to consume alcoholic products in America. They can drink legally here, but they weren't exactly our crowd to attempt to socialize with. We tried checking out one more bar that looked promising from our walk over to the Rialto bridge, and that was unsuccessful as well. Somehow, the night before Mardi Gras was not looking so good. I guess not every holiday is celebrated starting with an "erev" (the night before for most Jewish holidays). We'll have to try again tomorrow.

Fun in Florence (3/6)

Today will probably go down as one of my favorite on the trip. I had just about no itinerary so the day was completely mine! Adam also kind of had no itinerary. This morning before we checked out of our hotel to head to Venice, we decided to stay in Florence one more night, to ease the pressure on seeing everything here AND trying to head out to get to Venice in daylight, and also because prices are cheaper for tomorrow and the next night than tonight and tomorrow. Decision made!

Adam decided to use the morning to go for a run, so I took to the streets around 11am to head toward downtown Florence. First stop was the Duomo to see if it was open (the guidebook we have was a little unclear). Even though I did get to see the outside last night, it was even more spectacular to see in the daytime. It was closed at the time I was there but I found out it would be open at 1:30 for visitors (as Sunday is considered a festival/holiday). I was hoping just to kill some time until Adam met up with me to go see the David statue at the Accademia, so I popped in to a cute cafe looking right out at the Duomo (great scenery!) for a quick lunch. I took my time since I hadn't heard from him yet. I eventually realized that I was the one that needed to call him to check in, because his phone can't call mine. Yeah, a week into this trip and we STILL can't figure that out. I got a hold of him and found out that he was still on his run, but he had found a really cool overlook of the city that we hadn't heard of nor had planned on seeing, so that was a note to self to try and do later.

I finished lunch and began my journey toward the Tempio Ebraico - the Synagogue (and Museum) in Florence. As long as he was not meeting me to go to the Accademia, I would go to the synagogue on my own. I found it via directions on the map (proud of myself, of course) and paid the 3 Euro entry (student rate!) to see the synagogue and museum. I'm glad it wasn't much more than that because it didn't have all that much inside, but I did recognize a poster image inside that I think my parents have at their house. Museo Ebraico di Firenze - it just looked SO familiar. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside here either, as I had to check my bag and anything metal. So I just had to soak it all in while I was there. I walked through the museum mostly on my own, as most items in the museum had English explanation. A guide came through with an Italian speaking group, but offered to answer any questions I had, in English for me. I went down to the gift shop level and asked if I could actually go in and see the synagogue, and not wait for the next group to go, and the lovely clerk opened the door for me so I could go in. As always, and as expected, it was stunning! Decorations, columns, lights, bima, altar, pews, windows. I only stayed in there a couple of minutes because the clerk was waiting for me to lock the door again.

I took a quick meander through the gardens outside before heading out of the synagogue area, and stumbled upon - Ruth's Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant. Steven mentioned something about this to me a few days ago but it didn't register because I wasn't really planning on going to a kosher vegetarian restaurant with Adam, and I also didn't know it was named Ruth! If I did, I probably would have made it a priority to go. I also didn't realize until I was standing right outside of it, that it was the same place Zora went to when she was traveling, and she tagged me in the picture she took of the sign outside the restaurant. I was a little bummed about just discovering this place now, because it was perfect for lunch but I wasn't hungry. I had already eaten and couldn't justify having a second lunch. I just didn't have the appetite. So I went in to look at the menu anyway, totally impressed and wanted everything, of course, but settled on a cheese blintz with cinnamon, just as a small snack! I took it to go, and walked with it on the street until I got to the Accademia. Adam was going to meet me here from his day's adventures. We finally met up and he decided that he preferred not to go into the museum and continue on his day, so although we met up, it was only very briefly, and we split up again.

I went into the museum, mostly just to see the David statue, but also to see what else was in there. The tourbook said you might need a reservation to get in, so I was a little nervous about getting a ticket. There was absolutely no need to worry; I walked right in, waited a few minutes in the ticket line, made my purchase, and walked into the museum! The first statue I saw was called "The Rape of the Sabine Women" (which I found out really means abduction, not what we consider rape), and when I attempted to take a picture, some woman came out and said very loudly, "No Photo!" OK, I guess no photos allowed in this museum! Bummer because I was hoping to take some photos of the David once I saw that one. I'll just have to soak this one in too!

I turned the corner and saw the David - it was huge, and majestic, and just breathtaking. It was perfect. It literally took my breath away. You know how sometimes people just write or say - it was breathtaking. I think I stopped breathing for a moment. It was fairly quiet in the room, and no one was taking pictures. People were just looking, admiring, staring, analyzing. I fell right into doing the same. I took a seat on a bench behind the statue to open up the tour book and see what I could read about it, while I was standing right there. It was also nice to sit for a few minutes and rest my back. I finally got up and on my way, but there was really nothing else there I wanted to truly see, so I quickly meandered through the other rooms and other halls, and back to the David for one last glance before I departed the museum. I knew that there were David replicas in 2 places in the city, one of which that was not very far away. On the way, I knew I could stop at the Duomo and finally get in to see the cathedral, which was also beautiful, with its gothic style looking ceiling. I don't actually know if it's gothic but it looked like it! My next stop was the square that I knew had the David replica - Palazza Vecchio. Turns out, it was actually my first stop of the day but I didn't really notice it. So when I went back, I took some more detailed photos of the David and the other statues there, including the Rape of the Sabines. Replicas outside are the only ones you can take pictures of in this city!

My next stop was to try and see an overlook of the city of Florence from the south of the river. I crossed the Ponte Vecchio - the busiest bridge in the city, lined with gold and silver shops selling jewelry, among other stores. It was so crowded and so busy, but I finally made my way across. Palazzo Pitti was a good start and on my way to the Boboli Gardens that was recommended. When I got there, the ticket booth had tickets for 10 Euro a pop! I didn't really think it was necessary to charge people that much money to go spend time in nature, so I took a VERY scenic route back to the Piazzale Michelangelo Adam told me about earlier, that I wanted to see. I ended up going past the Belvedere Fort, and walked much farther than I had planned, got a little list, but finally ended up in the right place. Along the way, I captured some photos of the sun glistening on the buildings, on the river, on the tops of cathedrals. The trees held some of the sun's colors - reds and oranges. It was a long walk but well worth the views. I finally got to the right piazza and the view was absolutely perfect, overlooking the entire city. I even asked a stranger to take my picture in front of the view. Proof that I was there, myself!

I walked down the steep hill to get back down to the river, crossed one of the bridges, on my way back to Ruth's restaurant. I just had to go there. And it was finally approaching dinnertime. Adam met me there for a quick bite, I stayed a bit longer to enjoy the relaxing meal, and the fact that I was finally sitting after so many miles of walking. I took a cab back to the hotel (there was no way I was walking back after all that I did today) to relax for the rest of the night. I even skyped with mom and dad!

Once I was back at the hotel, I used google map pedometers to figure out how much walking I did today - 10 miles! Not too shabby. Maybe I've worked off some of the pasta and cream I've been eating in this country!

The Leaning Tower of Awesome (3/5)

On the road again! That's how the morning started. We took our sweet time getting packed up and into the car and out of Rome, and within a few minutes, we made a McDonald's stop. Erik picked up a sandwich of some kind that smelled like FRIED in the car (fun times) but Adam and I were not as pleased with the selection. Bummer. Snacks in the car I guess!

We were hoping to get to Florence to drop off our bags at the hotel and make our way to Pisa. We are so paranoid about leaving anything in the car from all the horror stories we have all heard about theft and robbery in Italy. We have experienced NONE of it, especially in Rome where we were on the lookout all the time for pickpockets (beause everyone says watch out), but we are still a little worried. Trying to do things the smart way. We were able to check in to our hotel in Florence, which was right on the Arno River, the main river that flows through the middle of the city. Our hotel was right above the Austrian Consulate, so we found out that parking was a little tricky. We were allowed to park there as early as 7:30pm and then through Monday morning, because there is no ticketing on Sundays (HOLY DAY!) in the city (maybe the country). It was fine for us because we wanted to drive to Pisa anyway, but we knew we couldn't park there again until it was 7:30.

We hopped right back in the car and drove to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and anything else the city (town?) had to offer. It took about 50 minutes to get to Pisa, and we had to find parking nearby to walk over to the tower. We found a parking lot nearby - that wasn't any trouble at all. But there was a guy in the parking lot selling packets of tissues, and other junky souvenirs. We paid the parking machine as instructed, and in his not even broken English (we're not sure what language it was) he was trying to tell us to pay him to watch our car. Well he is definitely a scammer but we didn't want him breaking INTO our car while we were gone, for us not paying him, so I think we gave him 1 or 2 Euro. If he gets this from everyone who comes into this lot, who thinks that they HAVE to pay him, well he is a smart dude doing pretty well for himself, all things considered. But, we were also too wussy to not give him something.

We walked about 3 minutes before arriving in the "Field of Miracles" which contains the Leaning Tower. I was totally blown away by how cool it looked! I obviously expected it to be leaning, and I even read about it in our tourbook and knew that it was approximately 15 feet off of center, and 5 degrees slanted. But up close and in real life, it was completely visibly slanted, and I thought it was - magnifico! Pictures, pictures, pictures! I did a few but the boys were hungry so we wandered the streets of Pisa in search of some grub. We settled on a restaurant not too far from the tower, and we were all pretty happy, I think, with our meal! I got gnocchi (AGAIN, yes, I know) with pesto - it wasn't as good as some of the other gnocchi I've had, but hey, ya win some, ya lose some. We went back to the field to take some more pictures including some attempts at some funny ones, but man, it's hard! You have to stand just so and have your photographer crouch down almost lying on the ground, and then line yourself up exactly with the tower so that it looks like your hand is touching it, or you are kicking it down, or holding it up. Everyone else was doing the same thing, so I didn't feel AS goofy. Not that I have any shame anyways. I'd do it even if I was the only one. I think Adam and Erik were embarassed by me so I tried not to drag it out too long, but I was seriously on a high from seeing this thing. On our way back to the car I took a few last shots of the tower.

We still had time left to kill, so on our drive, when we spotted a casino next to a cafe, we knew we hit the jackpot! (Pun intended.) The guys wanted to go check out the casino, and I wanted to read in the cafe next to it. I had my book with me, wanted a hot drink to warm me up; this was absolutely perfect. Adam turned the car around at the next roundabout, and we all got out of the car. I walked with them into the casino just to check it out incase I DID want to stay, but it was smoky in there and just not my scene. Ahhh, finally some relaxation time! I ordered a hot chocolate at the cafe, put my bag and book down on the table, and while I was waiting for my hot chocolate, I saw them walk by the door. They came in and told me it wasn't a "real" casino - it only had slot machines. So much for my relaxing time alone! They came in and joined me while I sipped my hot beverage, but there was no reading that happened. We got BACK in the car again and just drove back to Florence. When we arrived, we had about an hour before we were legally allowed to park by the hotel, so we parked the car in a lot at the corner of the street. We paid up for our parking to get us through to the right time, and went into the hotel.

Dinnertime! Our hotel owner gave us a recommendation for a good Italian restaurant in the city called Benedetto, and we decided to check it out. By far it was the nicest restaurant we had been in during our entire trip. Tonight was Erik's last on the trip so it was our last as a group of three - we wanted to treat ourselves! Our waiter was fantastic - explained almost everything on the menu to us, told us what was Tuscan and what was just Italian, and even brought us an extra appetizer since he thought the guys would want more than just the one. They also brought us 2 plates of bruschetta on the house. I normally really do not like tomatoes - almost everyone in my life knows this. But the night in Rome that I had bruschetta, AND this one, proved my taste buds wrong. I guess when it's seasoned nicely, there's good flavor, and it's on yummy bread, I can do bruschetta! (And I've also found out that it is pronounced broo-sket-ah.) We all ordered some wine (my choice being Muscato of course - and the waiter thought it might be too sweet for me - hahaha he doesn't know me very well!). Instead of ordering gnocchi, I decided to change it up and get a spaghetti dish that sounded fantastic - it was with cheese (formaggio - my favorite!), pears, and truffles. I also got a stuffed zucchini appetizer that was really tasty! Unfortunately, the waiter or the chef got my order wrong and they brought me the ravioli! It was the other main vegetarian dish on the menu, and because I had mentioned to our waiter that I didn't eat any meat, he must have just confused it. So he brought it back to the kitchen, and had the chef make me a fresh batch of the spaghetti dish! I had a guilty conscience about it though, because I wasn't sure if they would be throwing away the ravioli, or if they were going to be able to reserve it (maybe their laws aren't the same here as in the US) or maybe the wait staff would get a chance to do some taste sampling! I normally don't cause a fuss in restaurants, but I really truly wanted that dish and was happy I said so. It was what I ordered and what I wanted and what they gave me. Between the appetizer, the bruschetta, the spaghetti, and the wine, I had a fabulous meal, and took pictures of each course to prove it! I even got a picture with the waiter at the end of the night. What a sweetie pie!

We decided to check out the bar scene in Florence, but it was raining. Again. And we heard that Italians don't really go out in the rain. So much for trying to meet the locals! We stayed for a short while at the bar we chose (whose name escapes me already) and went back to the hotel via cab. Erik ran up to the room to get his bags while the cab waited for him downstairs (somehow in broken Italian we explained to the driver to wait and that we had one passenger going to the train station). Another day of the Eurotrip in the books! Buonne notte!

Roma times TWO! (3/4)

Second full day in Rome...we started at the Termini train station so Erik could get his bus ticket sorted from Florence to Milan for his flight. Meanwhile, Adam and I bummed around the station checking out the food. I saw my FIRST Italian cannoli! Well it's a no brainer - I had to try it. Once I was in line, I debated it, because train station food isn't always the best. It's like getting a black and white cookie at Penn Station. A real bakery would be so much better! But, I hadn't seen a cannoli yet, and I figured I might as well try it! I have to say, I was very happy with my selection. It was so good! Sweet, creamy, crunchy on the outside. Perfecto!

Once Erik was done sorting out his train ticket, we went downstairs in Termini to ride the subway (something we really haven't done much of on this trip because we have walked most places or taken cabs when we needed to), and it was so cheap! We hopped on the subway for 2 stops to get to the Colosseum, our starting point for the day. As soon as we got out of the subway we saw the Colosseum - it is pretty massive, to say the least. Unfortunately, it was already raining a little bit, but we did come prepared - raincoats and all. Some guy outside the Colosseum tried to convince us we should take an English speaking tour for such and such deal...yeah buddy we were not that interested. We knew that our ticket would provide entry to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Forum, and for 12 Euro, that was a pretty good deal. Three sights for the price of one. Plus, Adam did a report on the Colosseum when he was in 6th grade, so instead of renting audioguides, I told him he was mine for the day. Despite the rain, there were a lot of other tourists there, taking pictures just like us! After our walk around (and up to the 2nd level of) the Colosseum, we left toward Palatine Hill, not really knowing what we were looking at. We tried to pay attention to maps and read the Rick Steves book to help us out, but with the rain it was hard, and I wasn't that impressed. I think I was also losing patience being outside and cold in the rain. Our next stop was the Forum, which was kind of just next to Palatine Hill, and none of us really knew where it was but thankfully we stumbled upon it anyway. The Forum was very cool! It reminded me of some Jerusalem/Israel stuff because of how old the columns were, and what the Forum used to be - the center of life in Rome! It used to be the center for markets, socializing, politics, and religion. It was great to see the ruins and imagine what it looked like 2,000 years ago - hustle and bustle kind of a place. Now it's hustling and bustling with tourists stopping to take pictures of everything.

Our last stop in the area was to check out the Circus Maximus, the racetrack used back in the day. We kind of knew where it was, which direction it was in, so we started walking there. We stumbled upon it, knowing it would be HUGE and it turned out to be almost 7 football fields in length, but there was absolutely nothing there. NO one selling souvenirs (could have been the jackpot!) and nothing that seemed like it was very preserved from 2,000 years ago.

The guys sucked up the walk with me to the Great Synagogue so I could go find out what time Shabbat services would start. If I got to go, it would be great. If I didn't get to go, it wouldn't be a big deal. We walked a short while until we got there, and it was pretty dead. No one around to ask about Shabbat services, nor was it posted anywhere. After a few minutes, a dad and 2 teenagers came around the corner, and I asked in Italian if they spoke English. Turned out they were Swedish, so they didn't really speak Italian, but they understood me and the dad said that he spoke English. He had heard that services started around 5:30. At this point, it was probably around 5pm. Adam and Erik decided to split. I wanted to stay for the service. We agreed that after the service I would call them and see where they were to meet up - easy enough!

Well the doors finally opened and people came in from out of nowhere! Most went right in (you could tell they were the locals) and others, like me, were screened. Passports were a must. Leaving phones and cameras was a must. The lady who screened me asked me about the nature of my visit to Europe, to Rome, why I wanted to come to the synagogue, made sure that I was Jewish and entering for Shabbat services. It was tighter than Israeli security!

I was very happy to get inside, so happy that I didn't even realize, or think, that it was an Orthodox synagogue and I was not supposed to enter the bottom level of the sanctuary. I had to go up to the women's balcony (which, obviously, I LOVE, segregation, ha), but before the service started I just kind of took it all in. The decoration, the lights, the beauty, the setting, the scenery. It was stunning inside. I didn't have my camera with me, since I had to leave it at the security check, so I was kind of bummed not to be able to capture the inside of the synagogue.

I picked up a prayer book (a siddur) in hopes of being able to follow the service since it was in Hebrew. For the most part, I was able to follow. It was actually a little difficult to hear the cantor from the women's balcony, as there was no microphone, but there was some semblance to a men's choir that helped to amplify the sound and I could flip a few pages to figure out where we were. I wasn't too focused on being on the right page; I just wanted to soak it all in. This was my first Shabbat in 5 months (for the most part) that I wasn't in Israel. I became so used to celebrating and observing Shabbat in at least a small way (a dinner, a service, a meal of some kind) that it seemed natural for me to find a place to go on Friday night to be with the Jews! It was very comforting to feel at home.

When services were over, I left the synagogue going toward Campo di Fiori, where the guys were finishing up a drink. I met them at the bar, and the waitress gave us a recommendation on a restaurant to try for dinner, about a 5 minute walk from Campo. We found it with no problem (she also gave us turn by turn directions so that was quite helpful) and had yet another great meal. Foccaccia bread with rosemary, garlic, and oil. I got a fairly large Greek salad, and a plate of ravioli. I was still ravenous so I helped Erik finish his margherita pizza before we went back to the hotel for the night.

Another great day complete, and we're heading back north tomorrow to Florence and hopefully Pisa, for the day. Buonna notte!

Roma! (3/3/11)

The best way to start the day is...sleeping in, of course! So we did exactly that. We were all so exhausted from the drive yesterday (and the 6am wakeup) that we needed to sleep in until we all woke up naturally. The hotel did have shuttles running between 9am and 12pm but we slept so late and took so long getting ready for the day, that we missed the last one out until 4pm. We asked the front desk to call us a cab, and apparently they can just push a button and a cab comes to the front door within 30 seconds. They weren't kidding! The cab was there in less than 30 seconds, and before we knew it, we were on our way to Vatican City!

Our cab driver dropped us off right outside the entrance to the museum, and instead of going in, we went across the street to a restaurant to get some good ole Italian grub! Minestrone style soup for me, and pasta and meat for Adam and Erik. Finished up with some fruit salad for dessert, and we were on our way back across the street to get into the museum. I heard the Sistine Chapel was worth seeing. You know, that little painting by Michaelangelo. So we walked all the way through the museum, looking at paintings, sculptures, tapestries, stained glass, and other works of art (and archaeology) before entering the Sistine Chapel to see Michaelangelo's famous piece. Unfortunately, it was the ONLY room in the entire building where people are forbidden to take pictures. Not just flash photography, but any photography at all. I thought that was kind of bogus so I took a picture anyway (no flash) and then a nice young police officer looking security guard said in his best English with an Italian accent, "I talking to you, no photo here." I apologized to him and we left the room. I got my one picture! Better than nothing at all.

After we left the museum, we walked around the walls of Vatican City (which really is its own country with its own postal code and uniformed officers) to see St. Peter's Basilica, the most grand church in the world! We waited in line outside, which seemed to move fairly quickly, taking pictures of the square and the fountains and the pigeons around us. We got to the main entrance of the church and walked in slowly and quietly. There were tons of other tourists around, but I'm sure that the semi-rainy weather also scared away some other potential tourists who chose to stay indoors to stay warm and dry. The church was huge and beautiful, to say the least. We walked around for probably around an hour, looking at different statues, paintings, Latin letters, the altar, and more. It was so impressive! My camera hardly captured its fullness in photos.

We left the church and began to walk toward the downtown part of Rome to see what else this lovely city had to offer. We made a pit stop in a little cafe on our walk, and ended up stopping at Campo di Fiori, an area of Rome we heard was very popular for going out. It was way too early for the bars, and we really wanted dinner, so we ended up going to Piazza Navonna where I had heard there were lots of restaurants. There was also a fountain there and a big square, so we walked around for a little bit until we could decide which restaurant to go to. We sat down at one restaurant right across from the fountain (great view!) and had an incredible meal. Well my meal was incredible! Probably the best I've had so far on this trip! Gnocchi with gorgonzola and spinach, and of course I put more cheese on top - grated parmesean! So Italian! And so fattening. All I'm doing on this trip is eating. Cheese. Lots of cheese. Formaggio!

We knew we wanted to get back to Campo di Fiori for the bar scene later, but we also knew we had time to kill. A lot of people had said that the Trevi Fountain is beautiful at night, and also traditionally a place that people throw coins to signify their return to Rome. The walk was just a few minutes from the Piazza, so we went there to take some pics and throw in some coins, and then got to Campo di Fiori. Someone we had met earlier said that all the Americans go to "The Drunken Ship" so needless to say, that's where we ended up! There were maybe 2 others in there when we got in (around 9pm, way early), but by 11pm it was way crowded! Lots of Americans came in and filled up the place. By around 11pm I had enough, so I took a cab back to the hotel to call it a night.

Tomorrow, we explore Rome's ancient history - Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill!

Adventures in Southern France (3/1-3/2)

We picked up our rental car around 9:30am and did some circles around the city of Paris before finally getting out of the city. We were fortunate enough to read the Rick Steves book that indicated that Lyon had a "Subway" restaurant, and that became our intermediate destination for the day. (Right, so, we leave Paris to drive toward the south of France, and we are heading toward a Subway for lunch. Nothing else more authentic? This is what happens when you travel Europe with 2 American dudes. Haha, love you guys!)

So after multiple hours of driving, seeing the countryside, passing old castles and green fields, we end up in Lyon, driving along the river as the GPS attempts to direct us toward this Subway, which was blocked by gate/code access. After some circling and realizing there was no way we were making it down that street on our own, we gave up. Kind of. We parked in a lot nearby, Adam and I ran in to pick up the sandwiches, and we all ate in the car. Well, that was our visit to Lyon, because immediately after we were done with our sandwiches we got back on the road heading toward Arles (pronounced Arl) where we were hoping to stay in one of the hotels listed in the Rick Steves book. Before we could even get out of Lyon, our stupid GPS had us going in 3 figure 8s along highway entrances because it couldn't make up its mind of where it wanted us to go. Well we finally got off of the GPS path so it could re-route us toward the correct highway, and got out of Lyon. A few hours later, we arrived in Arles, and the roads were so tiny that we had to back up and turn around a few times still not finding the hotel we wanted. We found a nearby hotel, Hotel Voltaire, that was also listed in Rick Steves book and his description was pretty accurate - a questionably clean room with ceiling fans. The guy only had a double room, which meant it had 2 single beds. Well there are 3 of us so guess what that means - squish-tastic! I was able to check out the room before booking it, and although it was certainly not glamorous, it was half decent. The boys didn't necessarily agree but it seemed like we didn't have any other choice. The original hotel we wanted (according to Rick Steves) was closed! Out of business! Operating no more! Thanks Rick Steves. You're a genius.

Erik didn't want to leave all of our belongings in the room without being there, so Adam and I went across the street to pick up some food to take back to eat in the room. Unfortunately, the only food we could take back was pizza, and they had so many other great things on the menu. But we ordered 3 pizzas and took them to go. Once we arrived back at the hotel, we opened up the boxes to discover that NONE of the pizzas were sliced. Fun times! We had to rip apart our individual pizzas and use tissues as our napkins. One of the more budget nights but definitely more fun nights. A lot of laughing and joking ensued. There was absolutely nothing to do in Arles, and we weren't really sure how safe the neighborhood was. I thought it was fine to walk around but these non-NY natives were a little freaked out I think. Erik fell asleep watching Big Brother on his iPad; Adam and I fell asleep watching Indiana Jones on my computer.

The next morning, we woke up at 6am and Adam jumped out of bed ready to roll for the day! Mission - get to Rome. Via many stops along the way and some driving along the coast.

Our first stop after Arles was Les Baux, where we thought we could see a cool old castle, but because we had left so early (by the time we left it was really more like 7:30, because we had to wait for our friend downstairs at the Hotel Voltaire to give our keys back) that it wasn't yet open. We drove to the top of the hill and took some (crappy) photos, and left toward Nice to see the Marc Chagall Museum, which I really wanted to see. I told the guys that they probably wouldn't enjoy it like I knew I would (based on how much time they spent in the Louvre), but they came along anyway. They lasted about 20 minutes before deciding to head out in search of wi-fi to book a hotel in Rome, and I stayed at the Chagall museum for almost an hour and a half. I took tons of pictures, of almost every piece of work, and even got a cute little French lady to snap a photo of me in front of one of his Moses works. The boys picked me up at noon outside of the museum, as promised, and we continued on our journey.

Our next stop was Monaco, which is as big as a city but technically is a different country. The second we got to the coast, we all saw the breathtaking views overlooking the cliffs and the water lapping on the shore. Despite the stress and arguing over whether or not to get food at a restaurant overlooking the water, or at a rest stop on the highway up ahead many miles, we ended up having a beautiful drive and a nice lunch just east of Monaco and before we entered Italy. The restaurant was called "Fellini" and honestly, when we got there, we were so close to Italy that we weren't sure if we were there already! The hostess greeted us in Italian, and we were so used to French (bon jour) that when she said hello in Italian (bon giorno) which was slightly different, we were so confused!

The menu was great and had lots of options for all of us. We each got something different: gnocchi in a creamy walnut sauce, linguini with seabass, and grilled swordfish with potatoes. So we each tasted each other's dishes and quite enjoyed them! It was a cheap lunch considering how nice the food was, and how generous the portions were! We all felt a little less cranky I think, after lunch. So we were moving in the right direction. We went next door to Hotel Victoria to use their wi-fi to book a hotel in Rome. Up until this point, we were really unsure as to whether or not we'd make it all the way to Rome or not. We could have stopped in a number of cities along the way incase we got too tired or it got too late. But once we booked a hotel in Rome, our mission was even MORE clear - GET THERE! After lunch, we only took 2 or 3 very short rest stops for quick bites to eat, bathroom, and gasoline. Through many tunnels, winding roads, naps for some of us, listening to various radio stations, vineyards to our right and our left, and even some rainfall, we finally arrived at our hotel in Rome - the Crowne Plaza! It was like a palace when we finally walked in.

Adventures in Rome begin -- TOMORROW!