Alle Fine! (The end) (of my trip, I mean)

Well, you probably wondered if I would ever get here, huh? Alas, it is a sad day when a trip of a lifetime starts to come to a close. But two weeks later, my ankles, knee, and pocketbook were a little worse for wear. That carpal tunnel in my wrist started to come back with my "charge it! charge it!"--haha, just kidding. I had been saving for over a year, so I did really good.

So we woke up Friday morning, after making the decision to "splurge" a little and take the fast train to Roma from Firenze. Sara took us to the train station after a tearful goodbyes. (Ok, so the photos don't show tears (I'm not a pretty cry-er), but trust me, there were tears. Sara told me not to cry, but I couldn't help it. And neither could she.)

We arrived in Roma 1 hour 40 minutes later. A drive would have taken 4 hours with traffic, and the slow train would have been nearly 2 1/2 more hours. Definitely worth the extra euros! And kind of cool, too! Mama Luciani warned us of gypsies at the train station, but we didn't have to worry about such adventures. Brad is a formidable discourage-er of all things gypsy. And with Alexa Jo. winning the hearts of Italians everywhere we went, we figured we wouldn't be a target. (Just a note, it costs €.80 to use the bathroom at the train station.) We also figured we should just buy our tickets to the airport the next morning so we didn't have to worry about it. We found out later from our "tour guide" Daniela, that our accommodations that the Luciani's had found for us were less than 3 blocks from a closer train station. Live and learn, huh?

So we find a cab that will take us and alllllll our luggage, she wasn't the nicest driver, and every time poor Alexa Jo. would scream, she would jump. (Apparently Alexa didn't win her heart.) We made it to our flat and Daniela was waiting for us. Now, I don't have a picture of Daniela because he basically kidnapped Brad and took him alllll over the city while Cassi, Alexa and I stayed back at the flat. When he returned, we were STARVING! So we commenced our eating and touring of the beautiful city of Rome. Their subway system is the best I've ever ridden on, very easy to navigate and hop on and off of.
We first saw the Colosseum:

Everywhere we went, Alexa would use her sounds to identify a dog or a kitty, or in this case..a horse ([naaaaay])

Then we went to Trevi Fountain. This place was PACKED, so I didn't even get to go throw a penny and make a wish. (Next trip! ;)

Then we were told by Daniela that we HAD to see Spagna. I kept saying it wrong, had no idea what it was, but it was beautiful...and PACKED. People kept going to the same things we wanted to see! It was annoying! haha, just kidding. But, we did have gelato here:

On our way to St Peter's Square, I found a shop named after me....AND we matched!

Here are some pictures from St Peters Basilica and the square:

Our last stop was the Piazza de Popolo. You may recognize it from Angels & Demons, the movie (or the book if you read the one with picture:))
In this plaza, a man tried to give Alexa a rose and he had to have his hand smacked! What a dirty trick! To give a kid a treat and then expect the parents to give you money for it. So naughty!
We walked home, got packed and ready for the train ride to the airport.

WARNING! International flights from the Rome airport is CHAOSand you should allow AT LEAST 3 hours! You stand in at least 20 lines just to get to your gate. Thankfully, I had nice people and the ticketing agent at Delta even told me we were going to be the same age this year. I told him I was in denial and still told everyone that I was "29" - he said, "well, you look it." And winked. He invited me back to Rome (he was American, so it wasn't just Italian hospitality) and he would take me out. So nice!!

The flight home was brutal-long. But not nearly as bad as Brad and Cassi's flight with Alexa. They flew from Rome to Pennsylvania and weather delayed them there and in Chicago for another 24 hours. They were so happy to reach Salt Lake, and grateful to an employee at the Philly airport who got their luggage squared away and gave them some water and blankets to bunk down for the looooooong night. See RyanAir? You don't have to be rude to be a successful airline!!!

I am so grateful to Brad and Cassi and Alexa Jo. for being such awesome travelling companions. We had THE BEST time and I know they loved their short stay in Barcelona. To Sara and Giuseppe..THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! I cannot say it enough how much we loved being with you. Next time, in CLIFTON! (cheers[clink]) xoxo