Let's Go! Day 5

Monday September 24^th

Monday we slept in and grabbed breakfast right before it closed.  It was rainy and cold outside and we had really done all that we wanted to in the city so we took an early morning nap before we packed up our things. 

After packing, we decided to brave the cold and walked to the metro.  Our pass had expired so we just walked around the Montmarte area.  We found a ‘Love’ tile mural that had love written in all languages.  We saw a cute button store and even a physical therapy clinic.  We found a small café for lunch.  I ordered a coke lite and Joe accidentally spilled it:(  It wasn’t a big deal but we hated the attention drawn to us.

Shout out to TexPTS!

We went back to grab our luggage and said goodbye to Perfect Hostile. When we got to Gare du Nord, we couldn’t find change to buy a train ticket at the machines, so I waited in a long line to buy tickets and Joe went looking for change.  I started talking to some English women in line behind me and they offered change but they didn’t have enough.  Joe found me in line and luckily had found half of what we needed in the bathroom. Don’t ask! We exchanged with my friends in line for the rest and then purchased our train ticket to Orly aeroport. 

Perfect Hostile

When we got to the stop we had to take another tram to the aeroport called the Orly Val.  When we made it, we got in line to check our bags.  The attendant made Joe put his carry on in the size check box because it looked SO big and he wanted us to test it.  Joe pushed with all his might and his bag finally fit.  Everyone in line laughed because then he had a lot of trouble getting it out.  Regardless, the attendant got a big kick out of it and he let us carry it on anyway! 

We flew Easy Jet to Rome and we loved it.  It’s pretty much like a British Southwest Airlines because you pick your own seat, but they didn’t serve complimentary beverages :(.  We arrived in Fiumcino Aeroport and grabbed our checked luggage.  We bought a ticket for the Leonardo Express just before it closed. Whew!

We arrived in Termini Station and our Hostile was right nearby so we walked to the building.  We were headed up the stairs to the 2^nd floor when we passed a man in the stairwell.  He said he had been waiting for us and asked my name.  I thought he was confused so I told him my name (like an idiot) and he was like, “oh yeah Casey Pawelek I have been waiting for you…there has been a mistake..there is no room for you here…we have room in our other location…I can drive you there myself…my car is downstairs.”  Joe thought this was a good idea until I tried to explain to him that I didn’t trust him and wasn’t going to just get in a car with a stranger. Did he not see Taken?!!  The man didn’t understand what I was saying because he didn’t speak great English and we obviously don’t speak Italian.  He eventually took us upstairs and showed us the original place which matched the hostile we booked online.  We decided to go for it and loaded up his tiny Fiat with our luggage.  He drove us five minutes away from the station to a hostile near the Coliseum.  He explained that they recently opened a new location and had booking issues online with the new addition. 

Our room in Rome Metropolitan Guesthouse

Boy did we luck out.  Thanks God.  The area of town was much nicer and our room had a ceiling fan. Major score!!!  We had a shared bathroom with 8 other rooms (We made a couple of friends this way!)but the entire place was much larger and less cluttered that the original place.  Marco turned out to be so precious and we talked to him for a while in the kitchen.  He wrote all over a map for us telling us where we need to eat (He recommended this Chinese restaurant and we were like Marco, we can't eat Chinese food in Italy, we have to eat pasta and pizza and meatballs!!!!!) and places we needed to visit. He loves America and said it’s his dream to travel our country. Maybe he'll stay with us one day. 

Our Marco Map. Overwhelming and upside down.

We said goodbye and settled in and then headed out to eat our first Italian dinner.  We found a little café and sat outside.  We ordered red wine, Joe had spaghetti carbonara and I had asparagus fettuccine   It was amazing!!!!! It was already midnight by the time we finished dinner but as we walked back home, we stopped in at a Gelato place.  We were having a hard time picking a flavor (we made a deal that we would have gelato every night and couldn’t have the same flavor twice).  The guy behind the counter asked us, “you trust me?” and he made us the best 3 scoop cone we had ever had!  He combined tiramisu, caramel, and café flavors. AMAZING!  (We ended up going back to him each night) We went to bed and slept awesome with the ceiling fan…what a delicacy!!!

Our gelato place