This past weekend...

On Friday evening after exams, Alex, David, Harvey, and I headed back to the apartments on Via Rasella. We relaxed and showered and got ready for our farewell dinner that the AIRC had organized for us. Around 7, we headed toward Piazza Navona, where the ristorante was. The dinner was absolutely amazing – it had six courses. We had bread on the table the entire meal; prosciutto; a cold pasta; a warm pasta; salad; dessert (kind of a light mousse with sweet crackers). I might be forgetting a course, but it was all delicious!

The dinner was also great because KG and Dr. Aria and Linda were all there to say goodbye to us. It was really great to get to talk to them all one more time before we parted ways. (So sad.)

After dinner, we all rushed back to say goodbye to Alex and Stephen and Kristen (a friend that had was going to Greece with them). Their train left at midnight from Termini, and Alex hadn’t packed yet (silly Alex). Also, Meagan had already left before the goodbye dinner – it was really sad, but she gets to go on a cruise now! So yay!

After Alex, Stephen, and Kristen took off, the group headed to the boys’ apartment to hang out for a bit. Then, we buzzed the apartments of some people in the other AIRC group, and we all met up to go to The Abbey, our favorite pub. It’s an Irish pub, so it’s kind of strange for us to be in Italia and like that pub so much, but it was always a fun time. Anyway, we had a few drinks at The Abbey (near Piazza Navona), and then some of us headed to our favorite club nearby. We all had a GREAT time dancing, and, before we knew it, it was three in the morning. We slowly made our way back to Via Rasella and quickly went to bed.

By the way, I will not miss going to Italian clubs and getting too much attention from Italian men. American boys have a much bigger sphere of personal space. Which I love.

I was REALLY excited to see Mom, Kim, and Chris in the early morning!

I randomly got a call in the middle of the night, about fifteen minutes after I had headed to bed. My dad was calling, telling me that my sister’s plane had been cancelled. So, I called Kimberly, thinking that I was dreaming. But, in fact, I was not dreaming, and their plane had been delayed about 24 hours. Sad story!

I woke up in the morning to go get Mom from the airport. Her flight was supposed to arrive at 8 in the morning, so I left Via Rasella around 720 just to make sure that I was there to meet her on time. Oh, and Vicki met me downstairs before I took off for the airport to say goodbye. She had written a very sweet postcard to say goodbye – I adore you, Vicki Chang!

On the way to the metro, I called Kim just to check up. She was doing fine and told me she would call later that day with her new flight information.

I took the metro to Termini, where I caught a train to the airport. On the train to the airport, I met the sweetest girl from the Midwest who was also on her way to pick up her parents. She had been studying abroad in Madrid for the semester, so she was really excited to see her family. We stuck together on the train and on the way to the arrival gate. (She didn’t speak any Italian, and she was pretty overwhelmed. Not that I know much Italian at all. But it was good to be able to speak American to each other.) We got cappuccinos and croissants together while we were waiting on our parents to arrive.

Mom’s flight had been delayed about two hours, so I bought a British Cosmo magazine to read after my friend had met her parents. Turns out, they use quite different lingo than we do in the US. So, I had no idea what they were talking about in the articles. It was actually pretty funny.

Oh, one woman and her daughter had a ten hour layover in Rome and wanted my advice on what they could do in the city. I gave them a few options of fun things they could do, and they were really appreciative. I’m not sure what they ended up doing – they kind of disappeared while I was buying my Cosmo.

Also, there were some American high school boys who sat down next to me while I was waiting for Mom. They kept talking about hockey to see if I was impressed. I wasn’t. They were probably from Alaska and big fans of Sarah Palin.

After a few hours of waiting in the airport, I went to the place from where arrivals uscita (exit) to wait for Mom. She looked absolutely stunning when she walked out, despite the fact that she had been traveling on airplanes for about a day. I was so excited to see her!

I explained the Kim and Chris plane fiasco to her, and then we went to go buy tickets for the train to Termini. We called Kim to check up on her and let her know that we had met up in Rome.

When we arrived at Termini, we went straight to our hotel to check in. The room is beautiful! Except, we reserved a room with a king-sized bed and a fold-out couch. Turns out, the fold-out couch is more of a fold-out armchair that can only comfortably sleep one person. Haha, it’ll be an adventure. (We actually ended up getting two different rooms. Now, we fit much more comfortably.)

After checking in, Mom and I headed down Via Nazionale toward the AIRC and the forums. I explained a little bit about Trajan’s Forum, the AIRC, and the Victor Emmanuel Monument. Then, we walked to Via Rasella (past Glass Ristorante) to pick up my stuff. We walked past the Trevi Fountain – so beautiful!

Mom helped me pack up my stuff in the apartment. I had done most of my packing, but we had to figure out how to get everything in bags to carry to the hotel. After packing up, we got all my stuff to the hotel room.

After relaxing for a bit, we got a Panini from down the street and ate it in Piazza del Repubblica, near the Baths of Diocletian. We went into the Santa Maria church in that piazza – so beautiful! Then, we headed to Santa Suzanna for Mass in English.
After Mass, we headed back to the hotel, where we crashed. I had gotten like two hours of sleep the night before, and Mom was pretty jetlagged. So, it was nice to get to bed early.

So, I got a call on my cell phone in the middle of the night again. It was Kim, telling me that their flight had, once again, been canceled. I’m pretty mad at Delta right now. Anyway, they were going to get on a flight to Chicago the next day and fly directly into Rome. (Currently, Mom and I are in the lobby waiting. They should be here any minute.)

Also, because their trip has been delayed two days, they are staying the last two days with me in Rome! So, we will all be on the same flight coming back to Atlanta. Yay!

Yesterday, Mom and I slept in quite a bit. After getting ready, we headed toward the Spanish Steps. On the way, I showed her Piazza Barberini, where I had been catching the metro and buses in Rome.

Oh, on the way, Mom and I stopped for her first cappuccino. So delicious!

In Piazza Barberini, we met up with a South African mom and daughter who asked us how to get to the Spanish Steps. So, we just walked with them. Rome’s streets are so complicated – it was easier to just walk there instead of trying to explain how to go.

After seeing the Spanish Steps, Mom and I walked along the streets, looking at the upscale, designer shops that are nearby. Then, we took Corso north to Piazza del Popolo (Piazza of the People). We sat there for a bit (so beautiful!), and then headed down a different street toward the Ara Pacis Museum and the Tiber River. We walked past the Ara Pacis Museum and looked at the river, and then we headed back toward Corso.

We walked to the Pantheon and went inside to admire the oculus in the dome. Then, we got gelato at the place with 100 flavors. Mom and I each got two flavors – so we both got to try banana, mint chocolate, strawberry, and Bounty bar. It was a lot better than the first time I went to that place. Haha, now Mom really likes gelato.

After getting gelato, Mom and I headed to Piazza Navona, my favorite piazza. We walked around the different artist booths there for a bit. Then, we headed back east, toward our hotel.

We stopped at Piazza Venezia, in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument for a bit to sit down. We could see all the way down Via dei Fori Imperiali (thanks, Mussolini) to the Colosseum. It’s impressive, even from that far away.

Then, we walked all the way up Via Nazionale to our hotel. We got paninis and then relaxed in the room for a bit. Around 8, we went to Despar (supermercato) to get some snack food for when Kim and Chris arrive.

Then, we, once again, headed to bed really early.

It was the first time in three nights that I didn’t get a sad phone call in the middle of the night. So yay!

Mom and I woke up around 9 this morning to head to breakfast in our hotel. It was delicious – they had both European and American foods.

Now, we are in the lobby of our hotel waiting for Kim and Chris to walk in the door. I had a lot of blog writing to catch up on – sorry this entry is so long.
I’m excited for us to all finally be here together. I would have been so sad if all three of them had been on the messed-up flight, and I had been in Roma all by myself for two days.

Today, we’re probably going to walk around for a bit to show Kim and Chris some Roman sites. Then, we’ll probably head back to the hotel early to plan what we want to do the next five days that we’re all here together before Mom goes back to Texas.
We’re going to be seeing the Vatican, the Campo de Fiori Markets, a lot of piazzas, the Colosseum, the forums, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Lots to do, but it will be so much fun!

We all send our love to y’all in the States!

Ciao,
Ashley

PS – I have less than two weeks left in Italia. It’s passing by way too quickly! Oh, except I’m really excited to get back to Mexican food!!