Italy Trip Day 2: Are We There Yet??

This was supposed to be our first day exploring Rome. Candi had a tour booked to go see Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. It was going to be the one day that we each did separate things because I couldn't get on that tour. I was actually OK with that because I had found a couple of cool tours right in the city to do. I had toyed with the idea of taking a train to Venice because it is a must see for me, but the idea of doing it alone and how much travel would be involved (and the fact that my parents would have wanted to kill me!) with it had thwarted that idea. Instead, I had booked a tour that went over into Isola Tiberina to see an island that is attached by a bridge to Rome. And then that evening I had booked a walking tour around the city to see the sights.

Instead we spent a lazy morning in Chicago. All I could think the whole time was of that line in the cartoon movie Monsters Vs. Aliens: "Fresno? In what world is Fresno like Paris??" In what world is Chicago a fair replacement for Rome?? Well, it isn't. We tried to make the best of it and went and grabbed Candi's old favorite, White Castle for lunch and then walked around a little bit at a local nearby park and river.

We got to the airport with plenty of time and got checked into our flight. We even were the first ones in line to board the flight to Rome. We were just a little bit antsy to finally get to the city! We stood in line for about 90 minutes as one delay turned into two more as they "cleaned the plane." I finally say to Candi "what the hell is on the plane?? A dead body? I'm pretty sure I still want on it at this point!"

Finally we boarded!!! The flight had some open room so we had a row of three for just us two. I was still pretty jealous of the first class "sleeping pods"- have you seen those?? There was onboard entertainment and I settled in to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. We were served a three course meal on this flight that consisted of a small appetizer of crackers and cheese, an actual meal of pasta and salad with bread, and then gelato for dessert. It was pretty decent for airplane food.

I was even able to catch about four hours of sleep. The next morning we would finally arrive.