When in Rome...

Boy, oh boy, oh boy.

It has been an INTERESTING two days. Since I (Meredith) am entirely exhausted of recounting yesterday's sordid events (you'll see), Michael's going to take this one, followed by a brief rundown of today (another completely exhausting day):

7/10/11:
Got up this morning a little later; our wake-up call was at 0700. We were both kind of lazy and didn't make it down to breakfast. We set out for our walking tour at 0815 and we took the coach into town to pick up our local guide Marta. We then took the coach to the Colosseum. It was magnificent! That sort of structure built in eight years in those times and able to hold upwards of 50,000 people; wow!

After that, we toured the ruins of the Roman forum. Not quite as impressive structurally, but the thought of the times and events that took place on those grounds was awesome.

Meredith did have quite an adventure, though...! She noticed that Paul, the 88 y/o Indian fellow with the super-long ear hair (see pic earlier in the blog), had fallen behind upon leaving the forum. She stopped to accompany him and hurry him along so he didn't get farther behind and lose the group. However, when she got to him and turned around, the rest of the group was g-o-n-e. We had turned the corner. I stopped around the corner but had seen what seemed to be the last of our group go by and didn't see Meredith or Paul. After wating for a few more seconds, I returned back to where we had come from, not seeing them there, either, as I glanced up the path. Assuming they had passed me as I was taking pictures, I caught up with the group at the bus only to see that neither Meredith nor Paul was at the bus. I immediately told our tour director and we went back to search for them.

We looked where I thought I had last seen them, around the Colosseum, and around the nearby arch, and couldn't find them. We searched for about 45 minutes to no avail. At that time, our tour director asked if I wanted to stay and look and then take a cab, or continue to the Vatican w/ the group, because they needed to leave then. I of course chose to get off the bus, continue to search, and take the cab back. I gathered my things and got off the bus.

I decided to call back to the hotel to see if they had made it back; however, when I looked at my cell phone I saw that I had missed a call 30 minutes prior. Damn!! When we first started searching I thought she might try to call, looked at my phone, saw no call, forgot about it. I called the missed call number back and got no answer. I then called the hotel to check and found out that they were not back at the hotel, either. Continuing to look around the area, I then decided that with Meredith's language skills she surely was on her way back to the hotel.

I then tried the missed call number again, the woman answered, I explained the situation, and she said that she had seen them ten minutes prior; they were finding a cab to go back to the hotel.

I got a cab, and then Meredith called me soon thereafter from the hotel confirming they had made it back safely and done exactly as I had assumed.

We met back at the room, and talked about the ordeal, telling both sides of the story.

We then decided to go downstairs to the restaurant since neither of us had eaten to have some lunch. As we walked up, we saw Paul there, too, and we all looked at the menu together. Paul asked, "Did you go this morning?" we thought he meant breakfast. Not wanting to sound like a couple of lazy slowpokes that missed breakfast, Meredith said, "Yes, for a bit." He actually had meant the morning excursion (?!?!?) and said, "Yes, I got stranded there with the American woman," not realizing that IT WAS MEREDITH, standing RIGHT THERE WITH HIM. ?!?!?! Obviously, Meredith was fuming, as he didn't remember her or say "Thank you," at all.

Things got better as Meredith vented over lunch (pizza, ice cream, wine = three of her favorites) and we both shared our opinions on the ordeal.

After finishing, we headed upstairs to clean up before dinner and the excursion to the Roman countryside. Leaving towards the volcanic hills, we had a great view and stopped for a couple drinks at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's Summer Palace (he was there, by the way). Finishing our drinks, we then headed to Frascati for dinner.

We entered the restaurant; Meredith went to the bathroom and I found an empty table. Dan and Lynn, the only other American couple, sat with me. The tour director, however, came over and asked us to switch tables. We did so, and I saved Meredith a seat on the end. The director came over again, and said, "Paul is going to have to sit with you," and I thought, "Oh great... Meredith is NOT going to be happy." I switched chairs so that they didn't have to be across from each other.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Meredith apparently managed to find the stall w/o any toilet paper. She asked the person in the stall next to her and they handed her some paper. Upon exiting, WHO do you think is standing there washing his hands, mistakenly in the ladies' bathroom, but PAUL! Are you kidding?????? Meredith washed her hands quickly, and walked away to hear another woman walk in and tell him, "Uh, you're not supposed to be in here!!"

She got back to the table only to find out that GUESS who'd be joining us after finishing up in the bathroom...? Good ol' PAUL!! Needless to say, she wasn't amused, understandably, as it had been a long and tiring day even without the ordeal.

Ate, and it was very good (four courses: antipasto, pasta, veal or pizza, then cookies). We walked back to the coach and back to the hotel --- what a day!!

7/11/11:
Woke early and headed to the Vatican. The guide, Marta again, was once again speaking way too quickly and walking too quickly for a couple of people in the group, including Paul (how he keeps getting lost, he can't keep up). Urrrrrrrrrrr! Luckily he spoke up for himself today, FINALLY (can you tell he's getting on our nerves?), and she slowed down. She was QUITE the windbag, though, and gave way too much information. We spent so much time talking about every symbolic meaning that we'd be standing and standing for twenty minutes then rushed through whatever she had been talking about. Overall, not the best guide, and Meredith was thoroughly frustrated. The Vatican, though, of course, is fantastic, and fascinating, so it's not as if we aren't enjoying the scenery and experience -- just not some of the extra variables...

Back to the coach and headed towards Florence. Lunch @ an Autogrill, then made it to Florence for some free time and another tour. The second tour of the day was MUCH better and the guide was fantastic (best so far?). Great pace, gave the abridged version of the history, and spoke very clearly. He was da' man.

Bed now, finally, and we are exhausted. All of the crowds, tour group drama, historical information, food, and walking has kept us tired every single day. Tomorrow we're off to Switzerland and hopefully cooler temperatures and relaxation!

xxoo

(Pictures forthcoming)