Arrival!

After a lengthy 8 hour flight including some food, movies, and a tiny amount of sleep, we finally landed in Rome, Italy. We disembark into what seems like a very clean and efficient airport. When we head down to customs and baggage claim, however, we are greeted by a very different scene. There are people everywhere and the smell is horrid. We were included in part of that smell after not changing clothes or showering in about two days, but it was still rough. There was also absolutely no organization in the lines. When we finally reached the gate to get into the country, the man who checked my passport hardly even looked at me. He was much too concerned with the text he was typing. The baggage claim area was equally as smelly and unorganized, if not worse. We fought our way to our carousel and then attempted to form a pile of our 22 bags.

Once all of our bags had been retrieved, we tried to head to the exit to find our tour guide. After about half an hour, we headed out to our bus and were soon on our way into downtown Rome. Since our flight out of Philadelphia was four hours late, we had missed the tour of Vatican City, but we were still hoping to see the Colosseum. Our chaperones told us we would get to see it, but probably not get inside since the rest of the group we were hooking up with were already halfway through their tour. Very much to our surprise, the bus parked and we made our way on foot into the Colosseum. We went on a mostly self-guided tour through most of the Colosseum until we found the group we were staying with over the rest of the trip. For the next 15 minutes, a tour guide lead us through the remainder of the Colosseum and onto more ruins in downtown Rome.

We headed a couple of blocks away and got to see where Roma was founded and started; the hill where Romulus and Remus were left as small boys, the building where the Vestile Virgins stayed, an ancient theatre, the tomb where the ashes of Caesar were spread and where people bring flowers still to this day. It was beyond cool to see all of this historical architecture and life but after two nights of only a few hours of sleep and no food for 10+ hours, we were completely exhausted and it was very obvious that our crew were losing interest fast. After what seemed like years, our monotonous tour guide said goodbye and we were on our way to dinner at last.

We made the short walk to our bus, past a newly married couple taking pictures and headed to a little pizza place for supper. We had a choice of ham or margarita (cheese) pizza and were served an entire pizza to each person. It was beyond delicious. Never have I ever experienced such good pizza and working at a pizza place after eating that delicacy has been so hard. Every time I go for a piece I secretly hope for the same scrumptiousness but it never comes. For dessert we had a type of gelatin with chocolate on top called panna cotta. Needless to say, I ate my fill and was completely rejuvenated and ready for our night walking tour.

We met our tour guide right outside the restaurant and headed to an area that had once been a racetrack. It was an oblong area with shops and businesses all around the edges and a beautiful fountain in the middle. In our 15 minute stay in the area, we met a couple human statues who moved if you gave them money. I through in a euro and he had me come up on his box with LJ. He wrapped his arms around me, gave LJ his fake gun to shoot at his head and kissed me on the cheek. I have officially been kissed by an Italian guy! It's kind of a big deal! That became my motto throughout the whole trip as our fortune seemed to have changed.

Next stop on our tour was the Pantheon. Since it was after 8 pm, we didn't get to go inside but even getting to see this monument was amazing. The sheer size blew me away and I think I took about 10 pictures of just the door because it was so massive.

Our last stop was the Trevi Fountain. It's legend that if you throw coins into the fountain, you are destined to return to Roma again, so of course we all took our turns throwing some change into the fountain. The correct form is to hold your coins in the right hand and throw them over left shoulder behind your back. We got there at sunset so the fountain was basically just beautiful. We also got to try authentic Italian gelato while we were there. I got coffee and chocolate in one dish and it was heavenly. I think I died a little right there at the first bite.

On the way back to the bus, we walked past the Spanish steps and snapped a few pictures there. Our tour guide left us and we boarded our bus to make the half hour trek to the hotel.

The Waiting

As we made our way to the airport, there was a very uncertain mood in the atmosphere. Even though we knew we would be going somewhere, we didn't know where that would be. For all we knew, we could be heading to book a flight back to Minneapolis. Still trying our hardest to hope for the best, our group took over a small section of seats in the waiting area in front of the ticket kiosks as two of our chaperones fought to get us tickets to Rome.

The uncertainty only rose as the hours drew on and our plans kept changing so often that slowly, we started to drift off in naps and wander in our restlessness. At some point we even made a Harlem Shake video just as an attempt to brighten the overall mood.

Then, a miracle dawned and we had 17 of our necessary 22 seats booked out to Rome that very evening. We were elated, except for those five people that were put on standby. It was completely random  who was chosen, but it was still so hard to see four students and a teacher potentially be left behind.

We made our way to the gate, this time walking leisurely as opposed to our previous run though the Philadelphia airport and began the seemingly short wait before boarding scheduled within the next hour. As we waited, one by one, the five people on standby slowly were given boarding passes. Before we knew it, we all had tickets leaving for Rome in less than an hour. Or so we thought.

Due to mechanical issues, our plane was being worked on. It was supposed to be finished prior to us even reaching the gate, but it was running a little late. That was all fine and dandy, we were just happy to be getting to Rome, even if it was a little later than expected. The anticipated hour delay turned into two and then three and then four and we still weren't on our plane. The mood had plummeted once more as people running on minimal sleep began to get cranky.

They ended up getting a different plane for us to take and we finally got to board!! The only problem with that was the fact that we were four hours late and now leaving at 10:45 pm made us have to wait in line in order to get on the runway. We were number 22 in line.

After all the waiting, however, we were happily on our plane and heading to Rome for the trip of a lifetime! Our spirits were far above the heavens!