Italy Episode 1: Rome

Alright kids. The series you've been waiting for: Italy. It begins!

It all started off quite well. I had everything packed (I thought), and had a ride all arranged to the airport (thanks to Larena and her amazing last minute good-heartedness). I had a layover in Detroit and stopped for lunch with a good friend. I had 3 hours so I thought all would be sufficient and I'd have time to get back and on the plane, especially since I only had a carry-on.


However, as I returned back to the airport, they told me it was far too late to check in and I couldn't actually go to Italy. Of course I freaked, and then the lady said that as long as I wasn't checking any luggage I could still get on the plane. So she handed me my boarding pass and I ran to security, which thankfully had no line. As I was about to walk past the security guy I was tackled by some small asian lady demanding that my bag was too big to take on the plane. How is that possible when I clearly got it from Salt Lake to Detroit without ever having to check it!? Apparently someone in Salt Lake had lost their mind.

So Asian Lady rushes me back to the check-in line where she tells the other lady (we'll call her unhappy lady) that I need to check my bag. Unhappy lady doesn't even look up my flight, just looks at me and tells me it's impossible. I can't go to Italy. What do these people have against me going to Italy? The she looks at the lady next to her as if to get confirmation that I'm an idiot for even thinking it was possible to take my bag on the plane. Lady #3 is petrified by the fact that Unhappy Lady will eat her if she doesn't concur, so she, of course, agrees and looks at me like I'm dumb. Great.

However, just at the moment I thought I was doomed to be stuck in Detroit with some extremely unhappy individuals who think I'm an idiot, a large black woman comes shoving through from the back. She starts yelling about calling people, and rushing my bag to the plane and makes it known that Unhappy Lady is incompetent at her job. I like Big Black Lady :) In the midst of her screaming she stops, looks at me and says "Sweetie, go get on you're plane, I'll take care of your bag." Yes ma'am! So I book it to the plane and just make it as they're threatening to take my luggage off the plane (Ha! It wasn't even on there!).

It was eventful. A simlar event happened in Amsterdam, almost making me miss my flight to Rome. I still had no idea if my bag was on the plane or not. I love adventures :)

But, I made it to Rome, my bag made it to Rome, I found a train and made it to the hostel where I was reunited with Randy. He showered, I took a nap, and we went for a walk. A 6 hour walk. The best thing about Rome is getting lost. The city is so crammed together, and so full of amazing famous things that you're bound to stumble upon something old and cool. We had no idea where we were for 6 hours, and it didn't matter! We just kept walking and magically we were next to the Trevi Fountain, then we were at the Colosseum, then the Spanish Steps, and then we trekked up this amazingly long, steep hill until we saw the most beautiful view of the city! It was gorgeous. All lit up, and you could see St. Peter's Basillica....it was amazing. It made the crazy hill completely worth it.

We of course went and saw all the sights, the Colosseum, Roman Forum, amazing cathedrals. We walked along the river, found some great markets, beautifully lit alleyways with the neatest little shops ever. The people in the hostels were amazing. We made lots of new friends, played Presidents and Scum, and experimented with fun italian desserts.

Rome was amazing, and kind of feels a bit like home to us. We rode through it on the train on our way up to Pisa the other day, and it felt so nostalgic. I will forever love Rome.

Next installment: Napoli!