This will be the bulk of the story of our trip that isn't already outlined in pictures... some is a bit longer than others, but I'll ignore the details that the pictures show. You can see the pictures at http://www.facebook.com/burleigh2/photos (in the 4 albums that mention Italy or Rome). This is my first blog so be kind. ;-)
On to the blog!
Day 1... and 2, really:
What a looooong day! Got up at 6 AM Fargo time, landed in Italy around 2 AM Fargo time (9 AM in Italy), then had a 3 hour train ride (plus layover times)... we were awake for about 26 hours before we got to the suite (with maybe a few minutes of nodding off during the flight). We got 2 meals on the flight... a decent chicken dinner (although the sauce on the chicken was NASTY), a breakfast sandwich as the sun came up over the Alps, and a snack or two in between. Speaking of the Alps, it was a beautiful view that was grossly obstructed by the plane wing since we were in the exit row... but the extra leg room was a nice blessing. ;-)
We touch down in Italy and followed what signs we could read (as well as the crowds that seemed to know where to go) and made a few wrong turns on the way to the train station, but we finally found it. Now, there were no fast food restaurants on every corner like there were in the U.S. and no options to buy pre-made food much of anywhere we passed in the train stations. Needless to say, we were SO hungry by the time we got to the suite because of how little we had to eat... understandable. We went to the main office and asked where we could get some food and they offered that they had a limited selection of perishable food: break, jam, ice cream... the basics. They also said there was a small store about 800 meters to the right down the road. As with many Americans, it's been a LONG time since we've had to convert meters into feet/miles so we walked down to the entrance as they said and looked around.
There was a cute little building to the left that looked like a house that was made into a cafe or maybe a B&B so we walked over there and saw all the lights out and the place looked closed. The sign listed the hours and it was the local "Siesta" time where everyone took a break, it seemed. Okay, fine. We were starving and exhausted so we went back to the suite, ate some peanut butter crackers that we brought for snacking (the only food we had at the time), set an alarm, and passed out for 2 or 3 hours. When we got up, it was dark again so we walked down towards the cafe... but the lights were still out. Throughout the whole trip, we could only guess that the family was on their vacation and didn't think to put up a sign... but all the plates and glasses were set so it didn't make sense either way. Weird.
So we're back where we started, but it's dark out... bummer. We started thinking about the directions they had given us and started walking to the right of the entrance as opposed to the left, which was right when you were entering the property... remember, we were very tired at the time. ;-) After we had walked for almost 10 minutes in almost no light (the only street lights being at houses and businesses that were rare) down a winding road with no shoulder (so we're walking in dirt and weeds half the time when we're not on the road) and with cars flying by at way above the speed limit, Carmen got nervous enough and we still couldn't see any lights for the store so we decided to turn back and go to bed.
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