I know I have a lot to catch up on still. I haven't mentioned anything on here about my time in Lyon with the Descotes Family, and I will, when I have time after Christmas, I promise.
But I had to tell you all a little bit about our arrival in Rome so far.
When we were leaving Lyon, we were unsure if we were actually going to be able to leave, because there was a strike amongst the security personnel, and apparently before we arrived and during our time there, about 1000 flights had been cancelled. Apparently, going on strike is a very French thing to do, especially when there are laws that allow them absolute job security once they are hired. But we were able to get through security and board our plane on time, everything was fine.
So then we land in Rome. We had to board the Leonardo Express, but things are not that clear in Rome, so it was difficult to figure out which tickets we needed to buy where, and then the machines didn't like our credit cards. So then we finally buy a ticket, and it says our train is leaving right at that moment. Well there was only one train in the station at the time, so I assumed that was our train, so I take off running for it. After you buy a ticket, you have to validate it in these machines for it to be useful, so I leave Fabricio behind while he's fumbling around trying to validate the ticket, and almost run this lady over trying to get on the train. Fabricio quickly follows, and we find a seat. We are still assuming we are on the right train. About 30 minutes later, we see a map that shows the stops of our train, but we don't see our stop. We get a little nervous, but maybe we just didn't see it right. Fifteen more minutes pass by, and I start to freak out, that we aren't going the right way, especially cause it's getting dark, and the graffiti along the train track walls is increasing with each meter we go away from the airport, with less and less people waiting to board the train. I finally decide to just ask someone, and this nice women tells me in Italian, that I am not on the right train, and need to take two other metros to get where I need to go. So instead we get off at the next stop, cross to the other side, and take the train for an hour back to the airport to start from the beginning. When we arrive, we see the Leonardo Express, board it, and hope our ticket is still valid. As the train worker comes by, we both hold our breath, praying we don't get thrown off, but he ends up taking it, everything is good.
So then we arrive in Termini station. This place is HUGE and busy and everyone is going every which direction. As we make our way to the metro, we see a group of policeman (very loudly) confronting someone and apprehending him, and everyone is trying to offer us help, but really all they want is money, and we are just looking around telling ourselves we are not in kansas anymore. And finally, finally, finally, we make it to our hostel.
Rome is very much a metropolitan city, and while there are the sweet romantic parts that everyone sees in the movies, there are also the everyday, city life parts as well. And we definitely are not in Kansas anymore.
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