We had to get up at 6:30 this morning. Mom and I woke up earlier, so we carried their leftover food to my apartment and then returned. When we got to the apartment we realized that we had forgotten the cold food in the fridge, so I cleaned out my backpack and took it back with us. We were trying to be quiet so we wouldn't wake up my roommates. We got back to the apartment and woke up Kendall and Aunt Carolyn. They got ready, and we did a last minute run through the apartment. I texted the cab company the address, and they sent a cab really quick. By the time we got downstairs, he was waiting on us. They got their things loaded and then left. I walked back to my apartment all by myself. I will really miss them, but I am ready for some peace and quiet. When I got back to the apartment, Olivia was there. She was awake and we started talking about our families' visit. She told me about her Mom's adventures here, and I told her about my family's travels. We talked for several hours. In the course of talking I told her that I had never posted a picture of her on my blog, so now she is upset with me. She threatened not to talk to me, but she wanted to hear about my family, so that didn't last long. She is also very disappointed that she didn't get to meet my family while they were here. Here is a picture of Olivia, my awesome roommate. All in all, I have had a very relaxing day. I have laid in bed all day, not moving except to get food. I researched grad school some, and narrowed down my choices to 11 schools. I will have to narrow it down further, but I will save that for later. Now I am going to start working on a travel book of all of the pictures for Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall. Maybe tomorrow I will start working on all of the homework I haven't done while they were here.
Olivia said she would kill for Thai food, so I looked up a Thai restaurant and we went for dinner. The place is called Kuriya, and it was very good. It was pricey, but better than Ci Lin. It was also dead, we were the only people there. Olivia said that every time she walks by, she has never seen anyone there. We had a good time, and then returned to the apartment. We were talking about her traveling, and I told her about the Tripomatic app. This is one of my favorite apps, because it shows you where the attractions are and maps it out for you. Apparently I have neglected to tell Olivia about it. I have recommended it to other people, but not her. Oops! So now she is upset at me again. I just can't win today. I really need to stop talking.
2 Comments
We got to sleep in till 9 a.m. this morning. Then we started getting ready for our day. Mom and Aunt Carolyn were going to go to Pompeii to tour the ruins. Kendall and I were going to go to Capri to see the Blue Grotto. We agreed to meet up at the train station at 2 p.m. to go back to Rome. Our hostel gave us a complimentary breakfast, so we all had breakfast before we left. Then we went our separate ways. Mom and Aunt Carolyn started their journey, and Kendall and I went back to our room to finish packing. We finished a little after 10, and checked out. We were able to store our bags at the hostel while we went to Capri. The lady at reception showed us how to get to the harbor. We got there and bought a ticket to Capri. The guy pointed where to go but we got a little lost. Luckily we were able to find our way and made it to the boat in time. We were toward the back of the line, so we didn't think we would be able to get a window seat, but I was able to find on. The boat took off, and the gentle rocking put most people to sleep. I stayed awake but Kendall took a nap. The boat ride lasted about 40 minutes. The boat didn't leave until 11:10, so I new we wouldn't have enough time to make it to the train station by 2. I texted Mom and asked if we could meet later. She agreed because she and Aunt Carolyn were lost. I later got a text saying that they were taking a train back to Rome. When we got to Capri we walked down the docks to buy tickets for a tour of the island. There were 2 tours, the Yellow Line and the Blue Line. The Blue Line only takes people to the Blue Grotto and it is an hour long, while the Yellow Line gives everyone a tour around the island and the Blue Grotto, for 2 hours. We decided to take the Yellow Line. I told Kendall that we need to get on the right side of the boat, because when I had my boat tour I made the mistake of sitting on the left side. We had turn awkwardly on the boat, but at least we didn't get any people in our pictures. We sat next to a couple from West Virginia, and they were very nice.
After the Blue Grotto we went back to the docks. Kendall and I bought some gelato, and then bought our tickets back to Naples. We got on the ferry, but this time we didn't have a window seat. Kendall slept on the way back as well. When we got to Naples we went back to the hostel and picked up our bags. We asked the lady at reception where we could buy some nice leather boots. For Kendall's birthday I was going to buy her some boots, but she had a limit of $25. I told Mom and we agreed to go in together, so Kendall's budget was $125. I was going to buy them before she came, but I wanted to make sure they fit first.
The shopping street was on our way to the train station, so we just walked down it. At first, there were very few shops, but then more came. We were able to find a shoe shop quickly. Kendall found a really cute pair and tried them on. They fit and since they are leather they stretch. The ladies at the store were very nice, one spoke a little English and the other spoke none. We were able to communicate through my basic Italian and a lot of hand gestures. Kendall got lucky and the boots were 50 cents under budget. I paid for them, and Mom paid me back. We finished walking to the train station and bought a ticket for Naples. There were no tickets in Economy, so we had to buy 2nd class. It cost 7 euros more. At first we couldn't find the platform number, but we stumbled onto it while buy Dad a souvenir. We found our seats and took the train to Termini. When we got to Termini we got on the H bus. By this time it was 8 p.m., so it was dark outside. The bus was crowded and we were pressed against the window. I watched for our stop, but the bus went a different route. It was very strange. We were on the H bus, but it wasn't H bus route. I told Kendall, and we just decided to get off. We walked towards the river, because I could recognize things there so we could get home. We were taking a break when I remembered that I have the international plan which includes 3G, which means I have Maps. I looked it up, and realized that we were not far from the apartment but we were going the wrong way, so we had to backtrack. We finally made it to the apartment safely. Mom had made tuna fish sandwiches, so we had that for dinner. We found out about Aunt Carolyn and Mom's day. Somehow they missed the entrance to the metro station and just kept walking. They walked on the same road for 2 hours, when it should have taken them only 10 minutes. They kept asking for directions, but few people spoke English. Finally, they were able to wave down a cab and he took them to the train station. It only cost them 5 euros, so they were close but walking around in circles. Since they had been walking for a long time, they decided not to go to Pompeii and just returned to Rome. I felt really bad! I should have lead them to the metro station before going to Capri. While in Rome, they were able to finish souvenir shopping and packing. We all got up around 6 a.m. to get ready to go to Naples today. Mom was up all night, because her face was burning. Her face was all red. We think that she had an allergic reaction to the detergent on the sheets. I felt really bad for her, because she didn't feel well at all. We got ready and went to the bus station. From there we went to Termini and bought the tickets. When we were buying the tickets, a message popped up saying that there was a delay of 5'. I didn't know if that was a delay of 5 minutes or 5 hours. We were discussing it when a lady came up and helped us. I thought she might be one of the Indians looking for change. She helped us and then walked off, so I couldn't tip her. We got to the platform okay. While we were waiting for the train I saw the McDonalds across the isle. I was going to run over there to get some food because I hadn't had breakfast when the train showed up. I decided to forgo the food in favor of getting on the train. We picked an empty seat, and put all of our stuff in an overhead bin. We were just waiting for the train to get going. While we were waiting, an Australian sounding lady came up and said that we were in her seat. She showed us on our ticket where the assigned seating is located. We got up and ran down the train to the 7th car. We found our seats and got settled in. We had 3 seats of a 4 seat section. Kendall sat in another section. After the train started moving, the guy in our section got up and moved to another section. Mom and Aunt Carolyn caught a nap on the train. It was about 1 hour and 10 minutes. When we arrived at the train station, we got off and went looking for the metro. The hostel instructions said to go outside and get on the metro. The problem was that there was a lot of construction outside, so it took us awhile to find the metro station. Mom found a pharmacy, and went in looking for some allergy medication. She tried to pay with her debit card, but their card machine was broken. We left and got on the metro. We had some issues finding where to get on the correct train, but we did eventually find it. We got on and got off 1 stop later. Then we just had to walk up the street to the hostel. The hostel was located on the 5-7 floors of a random building. We tried to get on the elevator, but it charged us in cents. I thought we had to pay 50 cents in 5-cent coins. It took us awhile, but we finally dug out enough change. Kendall thought we were taking too long, so she went up the stairs. When we got to the top, Kendall was waiting on us. We went in to the reception area, and the lady at the desk was really nice. She welcomed us in and gave us our keys. Mom and Aunt Carolyn just wanted a nap, so she escorted us to our room. She told us to come talk to her before we left so she can show us some places to see. We got settled in our room, and Kendall and I took a 10-minute break. We decided to go to Mount Vesuvius, and then swing back to the hostel and pick up Mom and Aunt Carolyn to go to Capri. We went to the reception, and the lady told us how to get to Mount Vesuvius. She told us that we wouldn't have enough time to go see Capri, but that we should go on to Pompeii. We went back to the room and told Mom. Then we left. We walked to the metro station, and took the metro to the train station. At the train station we followed the signs pointing us to the Circumvesuviana Railway. We bought our tickets and started walking toward the train. When we got to the place where we validate our tickets, one of the gates was open and everyone was going through, so we just followed the crowd. When we got to the platform, our train was already there so we got on. It was crowded and there were no seats available, so we stood by the door. Suddenly another train pulled up on the platform next to ours and there was an announcement on the intercom in Italian. Everyone jumped out of their seats and started racing for the other train. We had no idea what was going on so we followed them. We got our own seats. The train we were on was broken, so they had sent another train. The train started moving and I tracked our route. The lady at the hostel said to get off at Pompeii Scavi, and catch a bus from there to Mount Vesuvius. When I had researched getting to Mount Vesuvius from Naples, the instructions said to get off at Ercolano Scavi. The map that we got at the train station said the same thing. We decided to chance it and get off. When we walked out of the Ercolano station, there was a lady there pointing to a building and saying they take people to the volcano. We went in and bought our tickets. The guy at the desk originally told us that the bus left at 2, but then later he came out and said 1:30. When it hit 1:30 p.m., the bus still wasn't there. Two of the people waiting left because they thought the guy was lying to them. At 1:45, the "bus" came. It was really an 8-seater van. The problem was that there were 9 of us. So Kendall and I were smushed in the back seat with another couple. There were 4 of us in a seat made for 3, so I was on the edge of my seat the whole ride up. Luckily it only took about 30 minutes to get to the top. At the top, a van was trying to back down the mountain. It was scary because it was in front of us, so our driver had to back up as well. Our driver kept honking and cussing the guy out. However, we finally made it to the top safely. The driver got our tickets, gave us a 90 minute time limit, and we started our treck up. Kendall was moving way too fast. She kept wanting to go faster, while I was dragging my feet. Where are Mom and Aunt Carolyn when you need them? They could have slowed us down enough that I wouldn't have to gasp my way up the mountain. On the treck we met some nice people from Indiana. They were funny. Kendall made a comment about burning off the burger she ate for lunch, and the guy said that we was burning off his whole week's food. Up ahead we could see a stop station, and they thought it was the top of the volcano. They were making comments about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't. It was just the first station. We took a little break and then continued on around the crater. The good news is that it was relatively flat from that point on. The bad news was that we were in a cloud, so we couldn't see any of the beautiful scenery. That was disappointing. We finally got to the end of the line and took a short break. Kendall bought a rosary, thinking that it cost 5 euros. It cost 15. She also bought a necklace, and then we headed down the volcano. Going down is way easier than going up. We got to the bottom with plenty of time. Our group was all down there, so the driver took us back early. Kendall and I were smushed in the back seat again, but this time with 2 guys in our group. We got to the bottom safely and went back to the train station. Everyone else in our group had to buy a ticket, but Kendall and I used the ticket we had bought previously. We waited about 10 minutes and caught the train to Pompeii. When we got to Pompeii, we had no idea where to go. We asked for directions and the guy pointed right. So we started walking and the entrance to Pompeii was right around the corner. We paid the entrance fee and then started wandering around. We had no map, so we just took whichever path looked good. After a while I started recognizing some of the surroundings from my tour. I showed Kendall the sights that I remembered. We visited the Red Light district, some nice fountains, the old baths, and the market places. Kendall's battery on her phone ran out about halfway through, but luckily we still had my battery. I liked this trip to Pompeii a lot better than my last one. With API our tour was so rushed that we didn't get to see anything. Kendall and I walked around Pompeii for about 2 hours. We only left then because it was getting dark outside, and the sight was closing.
I had class today, so I had to get up early. I had to take a shower and read my Art History textbook. While I was looking at the 8-minute question for the day, I realized that I was supposed to have turned in my topic for my manuscript essay on Tuesday. I hadn't even looked for which manuscript I was going to write about. I read the assigned chapter and took notes on it for the essay. Then I looked for a manuscript. I found one that I wanted to write about. It is "The Hours of Queen Elizabeth." The illustrations are beautiful. It was once the book of Queen Elizabeth of York, consort to Henry VII. It is also rumored to have belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots. I emailed my selection to my teacher and then went to school. I had to return the Art History textbook to the library before my Finance class. I sat through Finance, and then went to my Art History class. At the end of class I talked to my professor about submitting it late, and she told me that no one in the class had submitted theirs yet. In other words, I am good.
We got off the bus and Mom, Kendall, and Aunt Carolyn bought another day ticket. I had already finished the transaction in ordering and paying for the train ticket at Termini and was just waiting for the tickets to print when one of the Indians came to "help" me. They "help" tourist in exchange for money. The ticket system is self explanatory and I don't need any help. All he did was hold open the slot while I took out the printed ticket. Then he expected me to pay him for his "help," which I didn't. If I don't have a problem, I don't need any help and I not going to pay for help that I don't need. We went over towards to subway to the Spanish Steps, which is close to Via del Corso. On the way there was a pillar with a mirror on it. Kendall was busy admiring herself in the mirror, and walked into the edge of the pillar.
While we were at the Spanish Steps, I gave Aunt Carolyn detailed directions on how to get back to the apartment. Mom and Kendall have no sense of direction, so Aunt Carolyn was the best bet to get them back. Then I took them to Via del Corso and left to get back to my class. I got back at around 2 p.m., so I had an hour before my class started. I went back to my apartment to pick up my stuff, and I remembered to grab the box of Twinkies for Microeconomics. Then I went to the school and printed the review for Microeconomics and some information for our trip to Naples tomorrow. The Microeconomics review was really long. I printed 2 to a page and it was still 11 pages for the first chapter, and there were 4 chapters. I sent them to the printer, but it wouldn't print. So I sent them to another printer, and they started to print. While I was there researching how to get to Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and Capri a guy came and fixed the printer. So all the pages that I had accidentally printed, started to print. So now I have 2 copies of my review. I usually wouldn't mind having 2 copies, but we only get to print so many free pages at John Cabot. Once we hit the limit we have to start paying .07 euro cents per page, which I don't want to do. Then I went to International Business. He gave us back our case study, and I got another B on it. No matter what I do I can't seem to make an A on that. The last case study I also got a B and I started working on it a week in advance. This case study I did the day before, and I still got a B. I was apparently missing an example in one question to explain something, and wasn't descriptive enough in another question, but that is really hard to do when you have a word limit. I talked to other people in the class and they also got Bs.
After International Business I went to Marketing. We had one group presentation, and I thought they did really well. Of course, I wasn't really paying attention because I was working on my Microeconomics Review. The first chapter alone had over 100 questions to review. Luckily, we only had one presentation today. We also got back our grades on the mid-term, and I got a 87. Not bad, but not great. I should be able to bring it up on the final. We only had one presentation today, so we got to leave early. So I continued working on my review. I was able to finish 2 chapters, so I knew which questions to ask about. I went to Microeconomics, and sat through the lecture. I tried to show the teacher that I had brought Twinkies at the beginning of class, but he was deep in his laptop and didn't here me. So I waited. After the lecture, he let us ask questions about the test from the review. When I asked my question, I held up the box of Twinkies. He got really excited because he had never seen them before, they don't sell Twinkies in Italy. He took the box and talked about how the whole class would eat them later. I had actually intended to give him 1 and keep the other 9 for myself, but I couldn't say that after his announcement. He answered my review questions, and then he gave out the Twinkies. There were 10 Twinkies and 19 people. So everyone split a Twinkie, and the professor took the whole one. A lot of people thanked me for sharing. Since it might have been the first time for some of them to eat them, I guess it was okay that they ate my food. I went back to my apartment and packed an overnight bag for the Amalfi Coast. I also grabbed all of the souvenirs that I had collected so far. Mom is going to take them home for me, so I can collect more. Then I lugged all the stuff to their apartment. They did not have as nice a day as me. They only went to a few shops and got really lost on the way back because they missed their bus stop. They didn't know exactly where it was, so they didn't hit the Request Stop button. If no one hits the button and no one is at the stop, the bus driver will keep going. So they wondered around Rome, lost. They didn't know where their apartment was because they were using the new map. They also didn't have the address, so they couldn't ask for directions. Somehow they stumbled onto to it. By that time they were too tired to go to the grocery store, so they just had left-overs. I looked up train tickets from Rome to Naples (Napoli in Italian). There was a train leaving at 7:30 a.m. and one at 8:45 a.m. I wanted to be on the 7:30 train, but no one liked my idea. We decided to shoot for the 7:30 train, but be prepared to accept the 8:45 train. I had today off of school, so more time to spend with my family. I had slept at my apartment the previous night because Kendall wanted to go out with my roommates. She came back at about 2 a.m. She woke me up long enough to tell me that Mike and Janelle were walking her back to her apartment. She also took the keys. Right after she left I fell back asleep. When I woke up later, I texted Mom to let her know I was awake and to find out when to come over. I wanted to make sure someone was awake before I headed over because I didn't have any keys. She texted me asking to meet at the grocery store. We went there and shopped for breakfast and dinner. Tonight for dinner we are going to make the Italian version of tuna helper. I have made it before and it is good. Then we headed back to the apartment. Of course everyone else was still asleep. We made breakfast again, eggs and potatoes. We had spices this time so it wasn't bland. After breakfast Mom woke up Aunt Carolyn and Kendall. I knew the Pope does a public blessing at noon, but I didn't know that it started at 10:30 a.m., and you had to get there at 8 a.m. to get a spot. In other words, we missed the Pope. We finally left around 12:30. On the way to the bus station, Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall were discussing ways to kill me for the insurance money. If I die in Rome, Kendall gets $100,000, and Mom also has death insurance on me. I told them that the Italian justice system is different from the American one, and they didn't want to be Amanda Knox.
We arrived at Piazza Venecia, and went to the bus station. I couldn't find a bus heading to Termini directly. I saw a bus that should have circled back to Termini, so we got on it. It led us outside the city to some area. By this time we were the last people on the bus, and the bus driver was leaving. It would have eventually circled back to Termini, in a couple of hours and our bus ticket would have expired by that time. Aunt Carolyn asked the bus driver and he said to take the metro (subway) to Termini. Then we couldn't find the subway station. Mom and Kendall just wanted to hop on another bus and see where it took us. They hopped on and Aunt Carolyn asked the bus driver how to get to Vatican City. He didn't really speak English and had no idea what she was asking. I clarified by asking how to get to Termini. He pointed toward the subway and we went that way. We bought each bought a day ticket for 6 euros a piece. This allowed us to hop on and hop off any form of public transportation. We took the metro all the way to Vatican City.
We rested a while. While Kendall and Aunt Carolyn slept, I made dinner. When it was ready, Mom woke them up, but Kendall didn't feel like getting up or she didn't wake up enough to understand Mom. So we ate without her and then Aunt Carolyn woke her up and she joined us. Everyone was a lot less cranky after they had rested/napped a bit. The original plan was for them to travel to Florence tomorrow. However, they would have to get up around 5 a.m. to catch the first train out. That would have them in Florence by 8 a.m., and give them time to explore. The wine tour was from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., which would have them back in Rome around 9 p.m. They didn't really want to do that. Kendall really wanted to do the wine tour, but decided to wait and do it in the Hill Country area. There are a lot of wine tours around New Braunfels or Frederricksburg. Instead, they decided to stay in Rome and go shopping. I have class tomorrow, so I can't go. After all of that was decided, I had to run to the Guarini Campus to copy Ch.8 of my Art History textbook. Everyday in Art History we have a 8-minute essay, which counts as a portion of our mid-term and final grade. In order to do the essay, I have to read the chapter first. There is no BS these essays. So I walked all the way over to the Guarini Campus in the dark. When I got there, the lady said I could check it out, I just had to return it by 9:30 a.m. the next morning. So I checked it out, walked back to my apartment, and went to bed. My family is wearing me out.
I had to stop at my apartment to get some things for school, so I sent Mom and Kendall on ahead to go to their apartment. Then I went to school for my International Business class. When I got to class, I rushed through reading the case study and did the assignment. Then I went to my Marketing class. I had a presentation over United Airlines Economy class. Our group presented first. I don't think our presentation was that great. I was the last one to present in my group, so I was waiting my turn. Then I noticed that no on was speaking and realized it was my turn, so I jumped in to present. I forgot that it was my turn. Oops! After Marketing I sat through my Microeconomics class. When I got there I realized that I had forgotten my box of Twinkies. Since my professor has never had a Twinkie, I was going to give him one. I thought about going back to my apartment, but I decided to wait for Thursday. It was good that I didn't skip class because I found out that next week we have a test, so the review days are Thursday and next Tuesday.
Then I went to my family's apartment and we, meaning me, cooked dinner. I made my lemon sauté chicken. As a side we had left-over pasta from Sunday's lunch. Everyone liked it, but it was a little too lemony. For dessert we had gelato. Then Kendall and I went back to my apartment. Kendall wanted to go out dancing with my roommates. I had forgotten that Janelle's birthday is tomorrow. I introduced them and stayed awake until they left around 10:30 p.m. Then I went to bed.
We found some stairs that people were heading down and thought that it might be a cut through. Kendall and I went down it first and looked around. It wasn't a cut through. However, Carcere Mamertino was there. This was the prison where St. Peter was imprisoned in before he was killed. Another famous person that was killed there was Vercingetorix. Kendall thought that Aunt Carolyn would like it, so we went back up the stairs to tell them about the tour. They thought it sounded interesting, so we bought tickets. The tour was really weird, not what we expected. It talked more about water than it did St. Peter. It went on and on about how water gives life, but prisoners were also drowned in it, so it killed people. It was definitely different. After we left we finally found a cut through to the street that the Colosseum was on.
I met with my marketing group. It took about an hour, and everything still wasn't completed when I left. Since the presentation is tomorrow, I hope everything gets done. After the meeting was over I hurried back to my apartment to get some spices we would need for dinner tonight. I hurried as fast as I could and packed everything into my backpack. When I got to my family's apartment, Mom gave me a slice of pizza. I was upset because I had stopped to bring everything over. The pizza had sun-dried tomatoes on it and it was very strong. Aunt Carolyn and I didn't like it, so we peeled the tomatoes off. I was really pouty because they had ruined my schedule. I had spent days working on that schedule, and they weren't following it. Mom sucked up to me by making gelato. I forgave them and then went back to my apartment. I have to get up early tomorrow for class.
My family comes today! Yippee! I got up early so I could put the itinerary on a map. I wanted to print it at my school, but they are closed on the weekend or have weird hours. So I just looked up all of the addresses and marked them on a free paper map I have. Then I left for the airport. I took the H bus, and for once it wasn't crowded. I went to Termini Station and walked to the Terravision buses. I tried to buy a ticket to the Fiumicino Airport, but they said their next bus doesn't leave until 10:35. My family arrives at 9:45. So I went back in to Termini and looked at the train times to get to the Fiumicino. There was a train leaving in 30 minutes, so I went and bought a ticket for that train. I had to pay for first class and it cost 14 euros. The problem was that I didn't know where first class seating on the train was, so I sat in coach. I also had no idea where the train got off, or if there were any stops, so I decided to just follow the crowd. The only stop on the train is the Fiumicino Airport, so everyone got off at the same time. Then I had no idea where the Arrivals section was. Everyone was heading towards the Departures Terminal. I tried looking at an Arrivals board, but it was broken. So I just started wondering around, hoping that I could find something. All I could find were Departures terminals. Since I couldn't find it on the street I was on, I decided to cross the street to the other side and look there. The issue was that the Departures terminals was on a bridge above the street, so I had to find stairs to go down to the main street level. I finally found the stairs, and it lead me to the Arrivals terminal. So I walked down the terminal, and found an Arrivals board that was working. Then I sat and waited for Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall to arrive. Mom texted me when they got to baggage, so I went and waited by the doors they were supposed to come out. And waited, and waited some more, for about 10 minutes before they finally arrived. Since I had spent so much time wondering around, I knew where to lead them to get a bus to Rome. We got a bus ticket, and then wondered around trying to find a bus station. I had to ask for directions. And then we waited for the bus, it was late. Kendall and I went on early to save us all of us seats. I had Mom's carryon, but the bus driver said I couldn't take it on the bus. So I gave it to Kendall, and she tossed it to Mom. It landed with a clunk. Apparently Mom's iPad was in there. Oops! We reserved the whole back role. The bus started going, and Kendall was looking out the window asking me about the sights. At one point the bus driver slammed on his brakes and everyone shot forward. Mom, Kendall, and I slammed into the seat in front of us. Aunt Carolyn didn't have a seat in front of her, so she shot forward into the aisle. A taxi in front of the bus had slammed on its breaks to pull over and talk to some people. Our bus almost hit him. We finally made it to Termini Station safely. My original plan was to walk to the bus station, and taken the bus to my apartment. Mom and Aunt Carolyn wanted to take a taxi, so we got in a taxi. The guy was nice, but I think he is operating an illegal taxi. I forgot to check to make sure it was legal. He didn't take us the long way to my apartment, that I was sure of. Mom didn't have the address to their apartment, so I gave him my address. When we first got in and got settled, the taxi wouldn't start. The taxi driver had to push it into the street and then jump in. Mom, for one, didn't appreciate his driving skills. Roman driving is not as safe as U.S. driving. It is pretty much a free for all, whoever gets their first has the right of way. The taxi driver went in tram lines, went the opposite way on one-ways, and drove fast. Mom was petrified the whole way, just staring blankly straight ahead. But we got to my apartment safely. Then we had to walk from my apartment to their apartment. They didn't appreciate it. It is only 6 blocks, slightly up hill, and on cobblestones. They did not like carrying their 50 pound suitcases all that way. Then we got slightly lost, so I went off on my own and found the apartment. We got everyone inside, and up into the apartment. One of the owners was there, but he didn't speak English so he had a friend with him that did. They showed us around the apartment, took their money, and left. It is a really nice apartment. There is a door leading to the roof, and it has a view of all of Rome.
Most of the sights were closing, so I took them to Hadrian's Temple. All you can see are pillars, and you can't go inside anyways. We took some pictures, and then I led them back to the apartment. Mom and Aunt Carolyn did not like all of the walking we were doing. They are getting old, so their feet and backs were hurting while Kendall and I were ready to see more sights. They were ready to hop in a taxi back to the apartment, even though it was only a 30-40 minute walk. On the way, I showed them the Victor Emmanule monument at night. We finally made it to my apartment, and I took them to the gelato shop. While they ate gelato I went up to pack an overnight bag. Then we walked back to their apartment, talked for a while and went to bed. I finally finished my family's itinerary today. They had better hit the ground running so they can see all of the sights I have planned for them. It took me all day to plan it. I also finally met my cousin on my dad's side. She is my Dad's mom's cousin's stepdaughter's daughter. I have no idea what that makes her in relation to me, but we will just go with cousin. We met at the Guarini campus at 7 p.m. and went to a restaurant that was close. When we got there they told us they didn't open until 7:30, so went ahead and sat down and started talking. She is really nice. She is a degree seeker at John Cabot, which means she will be there for 4 more years. She is majoring in Art History, and her advisor is my Art History teacher. She was able to pay for most of her expenses (tuition & fees) with scholarships from John Cabot. I should have done that, maybe in graduate school...We ended up talking for about 2.5 hours while we ate dinner. By the time it hit 9:30, I kept yawning because my bedtime is at 10, so we left.
|
Categories
All
Archives
June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |