Today, Monday, we take leave of the Rivera and begin the first leg of our trip home. We again breakfasted with the ladies we have come to know, and learned one lady is a chef at a winery in Evergreen, Colorado. We exchanged business cards and thought we said goodbye but not quite yet. Next came pictures on the steps of our pension with the beautiful gardens in the background. Andreas, the 30+ year old son, of the owner took pictures and was in some of them as well. He is another one of those extremely handsome Italian guys with lots of charm to round out the package. He helped us with our bags down the many flights of stairs, packed the car and after hugs ‘Italian style’ we were on our way to Rapallo just a couple miles away to drop the car.
But first I had one final mission to accomplish and that was to get sand from the Rivera beach for the soil collection I have been doing for Trisha. John dropped me by the beach and circled round in the traffic, I scooped up the sand, he came around to pick me up and we were off. Judy & I stayed with the luggage and I bought our final train tickets while John returned the rental car a few blocks away. We had just enough time to not panic and I can now say John is finished hauling bags up two long flights of stairs at train stations, for this trip or any in the future. When we arrive in Rome there will be no stairs and it will be taxi drivers or bellmen from here till we get home.
Today is a beautiful, sunny day and the Mediterranean is a beautiful blue. We met a very nice young couple from Minneapolis who were at the early part of their ten day Italian trip and I couldn’t help be a little envious.
Our trip took us along the coast for at least an hour and a half through the famous Cinque Terre area and Pisa before it turned east and headed inland toward Rome. And so I am writing during the least picturesque part of our 4-1/2 hour train ride and wondering what we will do, what we will eat and what kind of wine we will enjoy on our last night in Italy.
We chose a Courtyard Marriott that is within about seven miles of the airport so had about a half hour cab ride from the train. The ride in the cab took us by the coliseum, and so many other beautiful old buildings once again it took my breath away. I closed my eyes and prayed I may return one day.
And so our last night was in a lovely Marriott and we reveled in the famous Marriott Heavenly beds. This time we have separate rooms so we have lots of space and beautiful showers, no sliding into the bathroom sideways. To be honest it feels much like we are already back in the US and maybe that is a good thing as it will make reentry a little easier.
So what did we have for our last supper? My heart was set on final Bruscetta and it wasn’t on the menu so the waiter asked the chef and he was happy to make it. Although the food was good, it was as I mentioned more Americanized, so the only thing worth mentioning is the Bruscetta and a bottle of Prosecco which was divine.
It is a rainy morning in Rome as we prepare for our final departure and after a great night’s sleep we are getting ready to head to the airport for a 1:30 p.m. flight to London where we will have about a 1-3/4 hour layover. We will leave Heathrow at 17:00 (5:00 p.m.) and arrive at 19:50 p.m. (7:50) New York time. Of course for our bodies it will be about 5:00 in the morning the next day but we have a hotel right by JFK and expect to be able to get a fairly good night’s sleep before catching our mid-morning flight out of JFK for San Diego and Minneapolis . We adjusted to the nine hour difference in time when we arrived and are hoping by planning our return this way we will experience minimum jet lag.
This has been an incredible month of amazing experiences. Emotional on so many levels from awe, to giggles to tears and we feel extremely blessed. Allore, we will take our leave.
Arrivederci
The Traveling Trio
No comments:
Post a Comment