OFF TO ROME!
Layover in New Jersey. I have NEVER been here before. Sitting in the Brooklyn Brewery Bar in the Newark airport, I look across the tarmac and I see New York. There it is, in all its splendor, just like the movies show it. Evan points out where the Twin Towers would have been. It’s almost surreal, because that one spot is brighter on the horizon than any other spot. Just what do you suppose that means? The sun is setting. It’s a dreary overcast day to begin with. It’s only 3:3pm. It reminds me of Chicago in the winter. No snow. Just…blah. I’ve had a white Zinfandel and it’s quite loosened me up. Two more hours until the longest flight of my life. Sasha and Evan have gone outside to burn a cancer stick. I stand guard over the luggage. Eric should call momentarily. We shared nachos because the turkey sandwich from the flight doesn’t quite fit the veg lifestyle. It sits in my bag in case one of the guys wants it later.
Newark is interesting. LOTS of Orthodox Jews. People watching is a REAL treat here!
This is definitely the trip of my life so far – How naïve have I been before this? EVERYONE should travel like this at least once…and I vote for WELL before their 30th birthday!!
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Almost there – My first overseas flight – long AND overnight. Wow. Ok. This is different. It’s 11:30pm at home and 5:30am where we’re going to be. Two hours to go. I’ve watched a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest. Sorry Eric, it was either that or that stupid Talla-whatever with the Redneck racing crap – Uh uh…ain’t gonna happen.) It was ok. Not as good as the first. I ate dinner (Indian – chick peas, rice, peas in a spicy sauce – salad with a lemon vinagrett (interesting) and fruit. I saved the vegan chocolate chip cookie) and I’ve napped (struggled with the “Just keep the mouth shut”, but, I haven’t drooled.) They have wings on the headrest that pop up and support your head. Pretty cool. Now, I’m awake and thinking of watching some more TV. I had to get up to take my medicine. The Topamax makes me hallucinate with bright flashes of light when it’s been 24 hours (or so) since my last dose until I either fall asleep and sleep thru it (when I forget) or take another dose. It’s kind of a nice reminder, actually. I’m also taking that Airbourne stuff. The pharmacist swears by it and it tastes pretty good. I’d read, but Evan and Sasha are sleeping and I don’t want to turn the light on. I’ve gotten practice at writing in darker rooms than this!
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HAVE ARRIVED!!
I’M IN ITALY!!
Ok! I’ve made it to my room in Civitavecchia. I had some praying to do, because we THOUGHT we were all in the same hotel…nope. All in different hotels. God did me good, though. My view is gorgeous & I have a balcony! Now, let’s hope it’s quiet enough I can sleep – gotta run next door (Oh, He answered that prayer – Evan’s hotel is right next door, just like I asked for.)
So, we walked around some and looked for a hardware store for a propane torch for work. We figured we’d never find one (a hardware store) so, I decided to try my trusty phrase book. I had no idea, really, what I was looking for – I thought maybe I’d find “Hammer” or something in it and perhaps I could stumble through a sentence saying “We need to buy a hammer” or something stupid like that – but NO! GOD IS GOOD! And I stopped on the corner and said “HERE IT IS! Fehr-rah-MEHN-tah” Evan said “Ferramenta?” Sasha said “What’s that?” Evan said “That’s a Hardware store, right?” I said “Yes…and there’s one right there!” and lo & behold! We were directly across the street from one! If I hadn’t stopped to sound it out, we would have passed it!
It was a small shop and they didn’t have what we needed, but Evan talked to one of the workers and he recommended a store just outside of town. Evan and Sasha are there now. I went to my free lunch while they took a taxi there.
Now…my free lunch…The waiter didn’t know a lick of English & the shells ragout looked like it had octopus in it. They just brought the menu to you – you didn’t get to choose anything. So, here I am “Vegetariano? Vegetariano?” FINALLY he gets it – I’m speaking ITALIAN! What’s his deal? “Oh – no. Con fish.” Make yucky face. “No, vegetariano.” The other waitress takes over and I get vegetariano. The first course was delish and actually plenty! Shells with olive oil (HELLO! OLIVE OIL! TONS of olive oil) parmesan! Again…tons! Chunked like garlic (yum!) and chopped, slightly over cooked veggies (eggplant, onion, pepper, etc). Second course was all battered (not sure with what) & sautéed – squash, onion & eggplant – though not overcooked – and some mashed taters. I’m betting the taters had some chicken stock in them. I didn’t eat much of that course. I really was full from the first course, but I wanted dessert – Fresh Flan and WOW was it good! Now, I’m back in the room. I’ve reset the alarm ahead 6 hours (when I got up here, it said 6:45am…I would just be getting up!) and I’m ready for a nap. One hour (or so) and then out to exchange some cash and shop a little – at least a couple postcards J
Slept HARD for an hour. Was very confused when the alarm went off. I had NO idea where I was! Boy, when they say things close shop early for siesta – they mean it! I got up (finally) at 3pm and out the door. The only things open were the bars and I am SO totally not hungry it’s not even funny. Besides, I still didn’t have any Euros, so first thing was to find a place to make change. I wandered and wandered and wandered. I found the train station and a little tiny grocery that sells Lotto (wouldn’t THAT be a hoot??) I found the information booth and for a second thought even THAT was closed, but as I rounded the last corner on that, I saw through the window CHANGE across the street, so off I hoofed it. They ripped me off 1 Euro, but I got change! Then I stopped and bought 2 postcards and hoofed it all the way back to the grocery for a bottle of water. Now, I’m on the balcony in my room thinking another nap wouldn’t hurt me at ALL! I see the toy store across the street is open again. My head is starting to hurt – I think it’s dehydration. One thing that amazes me here – traffic vs pedestrians. I yield…no one else seems to. Cars don’t – people don’t. It’s scary. I’m surprised no one has been hit yet! It’s like a big game of chicken! Same goes for cars vs cars, but more so with cars vs pedestrians. Some cars slow down for you, but others totally don’t. People just walk across the street without looking! It’s scary!
I think I see the ship in Port. I’m surprised they put us up in hotels if she’s in port today.
I doubt I’ll be eating dinner tonight. HOW do these Italian ladies stay skinny? Ugh! It’s 4:15p and I’m STUFFED! And exhausted. I could go to be for the night, I think. I have no idea what time we need to be ready in the morning, though.
OH! This one is for Mary! I went down to have gelato. Not very hungry @ 6p. Wandered over to Evan’s hotel to find out a time for the morning. (He says around 10a, but to be there before that) and since he’s retired for the evening and I was up and out and feeling pretty good, I felt gelato was a must finally. OH. MY. GOODNESS! And to top it off! I had NUTELLA GELATO! YUM! Nutella with big chunks of chocolate in it and vanilla with big chunks of chocolate in it. The woman behind the counter was extremely nice. You just never know who will know English and who won’t, so here I am acting like she doesn’t and she scoops out a little Nutella after I point it out and she says “You can choose 2 flavors. This one is vanilla & chocolate.” So I said “Sure, we’ll try that one.” Smiling because her English is nearly perfect. She says “Do you want whipped cream?” with a devilish grin on her face. “SURE!” “Sure, why not?” She squirts some on and sticks a TINY cone on top. She was VERY nice. And it was HEAVENLY. Things are a little more expensive here, but the Nutella was well worth it.
Now, I have to decide if I want to eat dinner. It’s served between 7:30 and 9:30. It’s like 6:30 now and I’m not even remotely hungry.
The bathroom has what I believe is a – excuse my butchered spelling – bedeigh. It’s the size of a toilet, but it’s more like a bathtub. It’s got a plug in it and spigots with running water. It scares me. It’s right next to the toilet.
The TV is probably a 10”. There is a communal 26” in the TV room halfway down the stairs before you reach the lobby.
The bed is very firm, but VERY comfortable. Vaulted ceilings. The door to the balcony goes all the way up to the ceiling…well, the DOOR doesn’t.
