VISITING FRANCE AND ROME

After we got back from Sweden, we spent the couple of week just hanging out with David and exploring around Germany. We took the train and went to several small towns and visited a couple of castles. We took a long weekend and went to a small town in France. It was in the wine country and the scenery was just beautiful, flowers everywhere, it was like stepping back in time. We stayed in a small hotel and slept with the windows open onto a small balcony. There was a church just across the street and when they rung the chimes the sound was almost deafening yet pleasant to hear.

We went to a really nice resturant while we were there. There was an elderly lady eating alone and it was amazing to watch her eat. It was almost like an art. She was served a large chafer of red wine and a whole carp. When I looked over after she was finished with this course, the only thing left of the fish was the skeleton. She had started at the head and ate the whole thing except the bones. In the mean time she drank the whole bottle of red wine. Then she was served cheese and later a desert along with a small chafer of white wine. She was still finishing the last of the wine when we left. I had to hope that she was either walking or didn't have far to drive. I guess wine is more of a staple in France than in the south.

When we were down to our last two weeks of vacation. We decided we would take a trip to Rome. Sondra could not go with us because she had to work. She booked us a flight and a hotel for our four day stay. I think she was actually surprised that we took this adventure by ourselves, but I figured if we got lost we would get lost together.

We flew into the Rome airport and then had to take almost an hour train ride in the the city. Everything went great, no problems at all, and we were patting ourselves on the back. We had directions to the hotel which was just one block down and just a short walk to the left. Three hours later we were still walking up and down and around and around the same area. It was hotter than a two dollar pistol, the sweat was rolling down our backs and our clothes were soaking wet. We finally got a taxi which is a real no no. The driver charged us $100.00, drove us the long way around the block and let us off at the wrong hotel. We finally made it back to the train station, and a service desk attendant finally walked us to the hotel which was one block down and just to the left. We were looking for a big sign for the hotel and this was a sign about a foot tall and a foot and a half wide fitting flat against the wall among a bunch of other signs. I could go on and on about trying to actually get into the hotel and finding the person in charge and trying to get the air conditioner to work for the first two days, but I won't. This was a bad start to an otherwise wonderful visit.

We took a couple of bus tours and visited the Vatican. I was a little disappointed in the fact that the commericalism detracted from the beauty of the whole place. The tourist were herded through and there was no time just to stand and reflect on the awesomeness of the surroundings. I guess it was because we went at the peak tourist season, but at least we can say "been there,done that".

The traffic was unreal. It was as though everyone had the right away and took it. You were taking you life in your hands to cross the street, because buses, cars and motor scooters were coming at you from all directions.

We ate in some great little cafes and the food was delicious. The pizza was different but really good.

We were glad that we took the venture and made it on our own. We may forget some of the places and things that we saw, but we will never forget trying to find the Termini Hotel.