We got to our seats and were surronded by a pretty good group. Guy's favorite is when there is a small child behind us that kicks our seat for 9 hours or babies directly in front of us that without warning hurl their toys over their heads which always lands in his lap. Let's not talk about the flight to Europe where the diaper got changed behind us. But this trip was older folks and couples.
Ok, so now comes the story of my redneck pillow. I was reading online about different types of airline pillows that you can blow up. This is our first time just taking carry-ons, so space was tight and I couldn't take my regular pillow (too many items to take on the plane). So I was reading where one lady had purchased a blow up beach ball and put it in a pillow case. Both fold down to nothing, right? So off I go the night before the trip shopping for these items. I bought two beach balls at the Dollar Tree and at Walmart I found exactly what I was looking for - a super fuzzy pillow sham that was folded up really small. The only problem was it was a sham for a BODY pillow. So needless to say it was really long. The plan was I'd have my pillow on one end and Guy's on the other. He ALWAYS gives me the window, so I blew my beachball up pretty full and tested it out. HEAVEN! So I blew his up but not as full since it would be resting on me. He tested it out. HEAVEN. Now for the visual. Both beachballs are in the same pillow sham. A ball on both sides of me. These are 20 inch beach balls. About the time I was situating it behind my neck, the flight attendant (a dude), saw my huge contraption and died laughing. He said they looked like giant boobs and needed to go get his camera. Obviously I asked him if they'd get me a free drink. ;) As goofy as it may have looked, I could care less. After I popped 2 Xanax, Guy woke me once to take meds 3 hours out from landing and again 30 minutes before we were to land. I don't think I hardly moved. It was the best sleep I've ever had. My $7 "Dollys" will be traveling with me in the future, I promise you.
Once we hit Rome we hopped a cab to the Hotel. We are staying at the Westin Excelsior and it is just lovely. Our room wasn't ready, so I took that opportunity to figure out why my iphone wasn't getting a signal. I finally called Verizon's toll free number and the VERY nice lady said "Oh yeah, they never tell you this part..." Well after she told me how to restart my phone by holding down the topbutton simultaneously with the round button at the bottom, it restarted and picked up the Italian signal. Oh yes, Cellular data off, but roaming on (note to self for next time). So after I got all my devices working and we got some Internet service on my ipad, Guy picked a place for lunch and we headed out. I had all my camera gear in my backpack still because I didn't want to leave it with our bags, so it was quite heavy. We trekked around and found the restaurant, but it was closed, so we found our alternative which was where the hotel suggested "Trattoria Toscana Tullio". It was not open until 12:30, so we had 45 minutes to wait. Exhausted and with a load on my back, we set on some steps and started to get sleepy. So we walked in and out a few shops and tried to keep on the move. At 12:30 we went back and was seated immediately. The place filled with business types in suits, but the gentleman who sat by us was obviously a regular. They had food sitting on the table for him when he arrived. We ordered caprese salad and each had spaghetti with clams. It was perfectly aldente, but Guy found it to be too salty. I could hardly keep my eyes open and was blaming it on the Xanax, so we scooted out of there and came back to the hotel.
Our room was ready and because we were Starwood Gold members, we had been "upgraded". The front desk guy brought us to our room himself. It is HUGE! We have a bedroom, a gorgeous Westin bathroom and an entirely separate living area with 7 chairs, coffee table, dinette set and fireplace. Um...yeah. When the guy left, we just started laughing. I could almost get lost in it. So Guy and I took long hot showers and despite the fact we had pinky swore we'd try to stay awake all day, we just couldn't. We took a nap for about 2 hours. At about 5 we got dressed and walked to the Trevi Fountain to throw a coin in and went the long way around to see the Spanish Steps again. MOBS of people. We found a cute little restaurant near the fountain and shared a pizza. It was decorated with Medieval/Sistine chapel feel and was dark with lots of candles. There was a tiny brick pass-through were the servers put orders and received the food. Cute. We shared a mushroom pizza and then ventured off for some Gelato. It will be a daily ritual for me, so today was no different. Two scoops in a cup, chocolate and coconut. Guy didn't want one, but asked for a second spoon. He helped with the chocolate side.
Back at the room we are winding down. It is now 10pm and we are hoping the nap didn't ruin us. The door buzzed and someone from the staff bought us a "gift". It was a book on the history of this hotel. Lots of famous people have stayed here and from the looks of the room we are in, there is a pretty good chance some of them slept in our bed. :)
Thanks for the prayers for safe travels. They obviously worked. Keeping fingers crossed the weather holds out. Looks like we may be facing several days of rain. Either way, we both feel blessed to be here and will make the best of any situation. :)
Love the food, especially the meat market! Best part of vacation is the food. Beach balls were great. Laughed til I cried.
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