Playing Catch Up

So between the internet being slow when too many people are online, my laptop battery dying or being to tired after a day of walking, climbing an exorbitant number of steps or drinking a tiny bit too much vino, I have not actually typed and uploaded my blog posts. I have been writing my thoughts down though, so I will try to catch up here. Allora, qui e il mio blog:

Arrival

6 hours in an airport is a long time... a REALLY long time. I walked outside once at the Houston airport but the security was such a pain coming back in that I decided not to do that again. I looked at some shops, tried to read, ate an Auntie Anne's Pretzel and a Jamba Juice smoothie. Then a 10 hour cross-Atlantic flight. I watched some movies but didn't sleep much since I was cold and uncomfortable. Maybe 2 hours total. I arrived in Frankfurt exhausted but I wanted to see all that I could. I walked outside and at least saw the street there, had Bratwurst and Hefeweizen and picked up some little souveniers at a shop. Then onto a Lufthansa flight to Rome. Flying over the Alps was amazing and it was neat getting to see the Mediterranean from above but I was fighting off exhaustion. As soon as the plane landed on Italian soil, though, I got a second wind. I took the train to the Trastevere station (where I had to lug some very heavy luggage up and down stairs) and then took a taxi to the hotel. As soon as I got there, I joined my group for an ice breaker (which was already half over when I arrived) then a brief walk around the neighborhood before going to bed.