Crisis Averted

All is well in the land of Jess and Ry. I'm even backing it up with visual proof. Take a look.

You know how it is. Three weeks is a long time, regardless of how much fun you're having. Little annoyances start building up... like trying to find a non sweat-in, clean shirt, or having to make sure you packed everything. This includes searching through the 'Scent of Summer' bag. It is where we have stashed the "we can't possibly wear that one more time if we have to share an elevator with strangers" articles of clothing. I swear, unzipping that case is like burping tupperware containing Christmas dinner that is still in the back of the fridge, next to the jar of moldy pickles.


We left Positano and drove to Naples train station. Thankfully, Ry didn't turn green or feel the need to throw his head out of the window to unload. We got there about an hour early and had breakfast at McDonald's which included a Big Mac and a McBeer each. I know that we're in a country with amazing food, but damn that tasted good. As we were waiting for our train, we heard an announcement over the intercom and saw a mass of people walking toward one of the Eurostar trains. Nothing was posted on the board, or on the mini screens that are above each set of train tracks. Learning from our Cinque Terre experience, we decided to see if it was our train. Kudos to us... it was. We walked down the tracks, avoiding all "helpers," and got ready for Rome.

The "Helpers" are these sketchy guys that stand by the trains and offer to (tell you they're going to) put your luggage on the train. What dumb North Americans can't figure out is that they are not offering to help out of the goodness of their hearts. They put your luggage on, help you find your seat (in about 2 seconds less time than it would have taken you) and then stand there demanding 10 or 20 Euro ($15-30).


So here is the last hotel of the holiday. The Sofitel Rome. It's nice. Anything would be smaller than the last hotel but (aside from not having a hot tub) I like it more. Here's something funny about the hotels we've been in. The mattresses are rock hard. For those of my Taiwanese teacher friends that are reading this... straw mat hard. So weird. You would think that nice hotels would go for something really soft. Well, our bed here is amazing. As soon as we lied down, we sunk into a mass of down. Really comfy, and breakfast is included (woo hoo!). The only downside is that internet is really expensive (you're welcome, all of you).




WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT... No actually, we don't. We went back to a restaurant we liked called Gusto (I think the reason I liked it so much last time is because everyone spoke English... relief. This time... not nearly as good). I waited for Ryan to see what was on my engagement finger. It's actually the foil wrapped up from the wine bottle. Hey, I got a laugh (after minor cardiac arrest).


Today in Rome, we went around to some of the same sights we were at before. The temperature is so much nicer and it seems that the tourists have thinner out substantially. Here is a picture of me in front of Trevi Fountain. I realize that my smile is somewhat ridiculous but we didn't have a lot of time. There is still enough people there to have a window of about 2.3 seconds to snap a picture.


AND... Thank GOD we finally found an Italian retailer that cater to fellows such as ourselves. After all of the cheese and pasta, we are forced to pick up a few items at "Extra Large." I think it means "Super Hot" in Italian.


That's all for now. We have very little time left on the 24 hour block of internet time that we bought. We'll try and post more pictures before it runs out but won't buy any more time if we can't (way too expensive). We have to get up at 4:00 a.m. and leave for Frankfurt at 6:45. If you don't hear from us, we'll post once we're home. XO.