Rome to Home
It seems like Sarah and I were in Paris many weeks ago. Hard to believe that only two weeks has passed. Tomorrow we’ll fly from Rome to New York and then on to Raleigh-Durham. Our energy levels are still pretty high and we could keep travelling, given the option. I really wish we had the time to go further south–Pompei, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, etc. That said, it will be nice to sleep in our own bed.
I’ll post in much more detail about our experiences, people weìve met, places visited, and so on. Overall, it has been a wonderful trip. We kind of had one foot in the college backpacker scene and one foot in the luxuries only an adult could afford. In other words, we could occasionally splurge on a nice meal. For most of the trip we opted for renting apartments instead of hostel or hotel. This has worked out really nicely. There are tradeoffs: earplugs almost every night, no change of sheets, towels, or room service, etc. But they have full kitchens, and most importantly, a helpful occupant who could get us quickly oriented and recommend nearby supermarkets or laundromats.
Randomness…
- Chuck Taylors are seemingly worn by every French, Swiss, or Italian teenager
- Smart Cars are everywhere.
- Never eat at a trattoria, cafe, bistro, ristorante, or gelateria near a major piazza or square
- Lugano, Switzerland has been the surprise hit. Our $100/night hotel was unbelievable.
- Florence is way, way more intense than Rome or Paris.
- There really is porn on public TV in France.
- As foolish as you may feel dropping French or Italian phrases at the restaurant, train station, or ticket office, I think it is generally appreciated.
- From our experience, Americans were rarely the most obnoxious tourists. But there are still plenty of baseball caps and white sneakers out there.
- Do the Canadians sport the large maple leafs on their backpacks out of national pride or to distinguish themselves from their neighbors to the south?
- Surreal: the only–ONLY–full size pickup truck I saw (Sienna, Italy)had a “Texas A&M” sticker on the back.
Much more to come. Off to the Colliseum. In the meantime, click on a photo in “Recent Pics” to see some uploaded photos.
We’ll spend 4 days in the City of Light ( must learn the magic phrase, “
