Rome

It was a brand new facility. You didn’t have to “pay to pee” here. I was hoping to find a toy smart car, but unfortunately they were out of them. Dave and I had pizza for lunch. I gathered some pasta to take back home.We boarded the bus. One of the teenage girls on the bus sang us a song along the way. She has a pretty voice and everyone enjoyed it.


Another hour and ½ on the bus and we were finally in Rome. Umberto had to park a block away from the Albani Hotel. There was no parking at the hotel for buses. Dave and I got checked in and went up to have a look at the room. The hotel was a more modern hotel than any we had stayed in on the trip. We had encountered a problem that had happened once or twice before on the trip and Kathy had always fixed it. The room had 2 single beds, that couldn’t be pushed together. I went down to the front desk and explained the situation to them. They moved us to a different room without too much trouble. The room was different from any other we had stayed in previously. Hot pink bedspread, green carpeting and red drapes. It had a little balcony with a table and 2 small chairs. The bathroom was also very colorful. Purple floor tile and orange wall tile. We had no time to rest though; we were signed up for a walking tour through Rome.

	We saw the Spanish Steps. All 136 of them. It gets its name from the Spanish Embassy located at the foot of the steps. The piazza at the foot of the Spanish Steps, "Scalla di Spagna", is also known as the "Scalinata della Trinita dei Monti”. In the 18th century the most beautiful women and men of Italy gathered here, waiting to be chosen as an artist's model. I got a picture of Dave having a drink of water from a fountain at the foot of the steps. We passed by the Expensive Store. We joked about the fact the store tells you ahead of time here. It’s going to cost you. We also saw the Trevi Fountain. I threw in my 3 coins with a wish. (I hope it comes true…) We walked through the Pantheon, and made a stop at Pizza Novona. The Pantheon in Rome, the burial place for a number of Italian kings as well as the Renaissance painter Raphael.

We visited the tomb of the Cappuchin monks. This one was strange. It was all bones… just off Piazza Barberini , a very short walk up the street on your right, you'll find an innocuous little church, whose entrance is up a flight of stairs, Santa Maria delle Concezione. This is the home church of the Capuchin order. Once inside you immediately recognize, the color of the monks' habits as the derivation of the name for cappuccino coffee. They wore brown robes with little white hats. The monks used to bury all their brothers in the basement. (More properly called a crypt.) They eventually ran out of burial space. What to do? How about a chapel of tastefully arranged pelvises? Perhaps one of shoulder blades? Would vertebrae make a delicate ceiling decoration? Why not? Despite what you may think, the displays are not especially morbid. I bought a book of post cards here, because no one will believe this story.

	We got back to the hotel about 6:30. My feet and hips were really aching. We told Colin and Raeleen we would meet them at 7:00 for dinner. Some people from our tour were getting together for a farewell dinner, but I thought it would be nice to have a quiet evening with just the four of us. Tomorrow morning they would be heading out at 4:00 in the morning to catch their flight. This would be the last time we would get to spend any time with them. I had just enough time to give my poor feet a quick soak, shoes back on and out the door we went. We walked a few blocks and found a little restaurant that sold rotisserie chicken. Dave and I got this with some potatoes. It was really good. Afterwards we strolled a little while and found a café. We sat outside in the warm air and sipped our creamy cappuccinos. This one tasted really good. Could it be because I know this is the last one I am going to have in Italy?
It was beginning to get late, so we walked back to our bright hotel for the night. We made it a quick good-bye with our New Zealand friends. Raeleen was already tearing up and I couldn’t bear to think too much about how long it might be before we see them again. I simply told them, “We’ll see you soon”. I hope this is true
*Saturday, June 8th -* We didn’t get our 6 am wake-up call today. More than likely it was because we changed rooms and they didn’t update the information. Fortunately, I woke up at 6:10. I got Dave up and we had our baggage out by 6:50. We ate our breakfast with Joyce and Frank this morning. They are a nice couple from Colorado. Breakfast was one the best we have eaten since coming to Italy. We met Kathy in the lobby at 8:00. The 8:00 group had a number of people. Tony and Joyce (From Australia), Frank and Joyce, Margarite, and their daughter. The other honeymoon couple wasn’t leaving Rome until the following day at noon. Mark and Roxanne (the couple from Maryland) left this morning at 6. Kathy began today with her famous “Buongiorno”. We drove a short distance and dropped Tony and Joyce off at a new hotel. They were staying one more day as well. Kathy got off the bus at the same time. Apparently we were close to her home in Rome. Umberto then continued his drive to the airport. We all hopped off and said our good-byes and went in as many different directions as there were of us. Dave and I made our 10:00 flight without too much trouble. We did get a lecture about the weight of our luggage though. In europe, each passenger can take 20kg of luggage. Between us we had 86kg. That was just the checked luggage. The flight was interesting. Everyone boarded and things seemed pretty much normal. Once the plane was airborne and the seatbelt sign went off, everyone was up wandering around. It was noisy. It was as if we were sitting in the middle of a big cocktail party. Everyone standing around chatting., laughing holding drinks in their hands. The stewardess had a hard time getting the carts down the aisle. They would say excuse me, but people just ignored them. I also had something happen, that’s never happened before. Apparently, pressure built up behind my eye. I kept thinking it would pass, but it got worse instead. I was sure my eye would leap out of its socket. Dave told me to pull on the corner of my eye so some of the pressure would leave. It really took some pulling the skin around it, but it went as fast and as mysteriously as it showed up. All better. What would I do without him? My hero!

	Rome Friday, June 7th
	Our next stop was another hour away and would be our last stop at an Autogrill.
It was a brand new facility. You didn’t have to “pay to pee” here. I was hoping to find a toy smart car, but unfortunately they were out of them. Dave and I had pizza for lunch. I gathered some pasta to take back home.We boarded the bus. One of the teenage girls on the bus sang us a song along the way. She has a pretty voice and everyone enjoyed it.