Greetings Folks,
Today, we had an early morning because we had to be out of the Airbnb by 8:15 AM (Spain time). We headed for the train station after packing up our numerous belongings. (Parent note: much less numerous now, but we did a good job of replenishing - fortunately Matt and I each got a new bag to put our new stuff in!). In order to get to the train station we had to cross over a pretty tall bridge but everyone did fabulous (even Kayla).
The upon getting to the train station, we hopped onto the L2 train, then the L5, and then the L9 Sud (South). We were suppose to be able to use our cards on all three trains but the L9 (which brought us to the airport) had deceived us online and did not accept our tickets we had bought in advance. So, after paying for NEW tickets (the poor croissant budget), we headed into the airport and to bag check. (Parent note: fortunately we found a nice young American couple just arriving to Barcelona and were able to give them our metro cards, which each had 3 rides remaining.)
At bag check, we all got our bag tickets (and we were determined to put them on the correct bags this time). While we all got the correct tickets, some of us struggled to read directions and ended up putting the bag tag together but NOT AROUND the bag. Luckily, Matt came to the rescue and was able to pull it apart and actually put it on the bag. The once all the bags had tags, we went to the desk to drop off the checked bags (which you do all by yourself because there is no employee working behind the desk).
Then off we went to security and to our terminal. (Parent note: we've heard horror stories about missed planes due to metro snafus and long security or check in lines, so we left at 8:15 for our 12:15 flight just to be sure. However, we're had good karma today - every train we needed arrived right after we got to the station; the bag check line was not a line at all, and as we approached security they opened a new security lane for us and we breezed right through. Fortunately, the kids wisely did not complain after the fact about the early start when we had an hour and a half to wait at the airport!).
We were a little unclear when we were supposed to board but when they did a LAST CALL, we figured we should probably board our flight for ITALY (Pasta, here we come). The flight was about an hour and Connor, Kayla, and Matt all got upgraded to the emergency exit row because they thought they looked like they could be calm and collected in an emergency (little did they know we had some practice like two days before when all our stuff got stolen). (Parent note: OR, it was offered to Jen and Matt and Gage, but upon learning that only three could go we let generously gave it to those who most needed the room. Which then resulted in Griff getting a row to himself, and Jen and Gage having all of the cookies between them. So it worked out for everyone!)
The flight was short (a little over an hour) and a little bumpy at the end. Once we got to Rome, Italy we met up with MacClain! He had traveled for almost 36 hours just to come see us (and I guess Rome but probably mostly us).
Once we picked up our bonus person (parent note: and the chargers and pair of travel pants we had ordered on Amazon, which MacClain graciously delivered to us, AND the treats and gifts his mother sent - thanks, Becky!!!), we had a 45 minute bus and the a 26 ish minute walk to our new Airbnb. (Parent note: the bus took us to the main train station in Rome, Termini station. We could have hopped on a metro for. 4 minute ride. And it was pouring rain. But no surprise to any of you, adventurers adventure, so we walked.😊). Along the way, we dropped off Griffin (because he and Gage look very similar) at a random store (because they wanted to personally check all of us in and we were only planning on 6 people at the beginning of this trip).
At the new Airbnb, we were left some amazing animal towels. They were super cute and we new for sure that some where swans and we are fairly positive that some are bunnies (or frogs either one).
(Parent note: I think they are dogs)
Once we were in the clear, we headed to the nearest grocery store for some supplies for dinner. We got the ingredients for pasta and some HOMEADE SAUCE, pizza, chicken wings, and vegetables. While we had some debate on what spices to buy for the homemade pasta sauce, we all agreed that the sauce needed MORE PARMESAN (but we were embarrassed). Luckily, Kayla had grated some fresh parmesan (back when we were in Seville, Spain and we have lugged it around and managed to not get it stolen ever since).
(Parent note: had there been any bitch mints remaining, some may have been distributed during dinner prep. Many people were tired and hangry. And Jen had two glasses of a delicious Frizzante the Airbnb host had left us, so was not very helpful - except in her own mind, perhaps! And Griffin took our "if it costs 1 Euro it is probably worth it" to heart, so he bought a €1 can of sardines which he likely will find very gross, but took the €3 oregano out of the cart because that seemed too expensive, and Jen did not have the foresight to put it back in the cart - see above re: two glasses of frizzante - but the sauce ended up being at least edible. And dinner was a raucous gathering, enjoyed by all except Jen, who was already in bed thanks to the two glasses of frizzante!)
After dinner, we had a short clean up and enjoyed some wine while watching a movie. (some of us went to bed as well). Anyways, much better day today to write about because nothing got stolen. Stay tuned for tomorrow.
Signing off
Kayla Daniel
Comentarios