This is the day that never ends...

So we didn't go to bed on Thursday night in an effort to make sure we were tired enough to sleep on the plane. The original plan was to stay up on our 6 hour flight to Philly and the sleep the 8 hours into Rome. It would have put us right on track with Rome's time zone, since we landed at 8:30am.

Yeah, didn't really work out.

We slept on and off in the first flight, a little in the terminal waiting for the connecting flight, and then Beth and I took a Tylenol PM and passed out on the second flight, but not enough to sleep well and for any long period of time.

Needless to say, we were all really exhausted by this point, having been up for pretty much 48 hours with tid bits of sleep in between. But we FINALLY landed in Rome!!

We went to get our luggage, and were afraid that our big carry-on had gotten lost because they made us check it in San Diego when they ran out of room in the overhead compartments and didn't give us a luggage tag. But we found everything and went straight to a bathroom where we spent a good 30 minutes changing, brushing our teeth, and attempting to appear as though we hadn't just spent 17 hours auditioning to be contortionists (NEVER fly US Airways. Worst airline ever).

We then spent 2 hours waiting for the boys, trying to figure out if they were lost, hurt, or just really stupid. I was thinking the third one... Turns out Mt. Etna erupted so their flights from Catania were canceled. After spending tons on a pay phone to call my mommy in the middle of the night in CA, we figured out through her and via Facebook that they were trying to get to Rome, and we should just meet them at the hotel.

We took a shuttle to Residence Candia, the apartments I lived in when I studied here, and checked in. Aldo was at the front desk! I was so excited to see him! We got up to our room, and the three of us unpacked lightly and then went immediately to get some gelato. It was delicious! Kayla asked like 12 more times yesterday to go get more. We went grocery shopping at Tuodi to get bread and brie and some wine and spumante for Bryan's birthday, and then after bringing everything back, decided to go do some sight-seeing while we waited for the boys to get here. So we just walked around the corner to the Vatican. No biggie

I think Beth and Kayla were pretty impressed with San Pietro, which was exciting for me. I've been really afraid that after 2 years of talking this place up, they'd be underwhelmed. We just walked around the piazza in front of it, and then headed back to get the boys.

They were due to arrive on the metro so we headed over to the station and waited. We sat for a good 10 minutes before Kayla declared that she felt like the entire trip so far consisted of waiting for them to arrive. HAHA! At that point, it was kind of true, although it wasn't at all their faults. When we saw them get off the metro, we completely attacked them. It was so good to see them after so long!

Once we were all settled, we ate some pizza and kebabs at Pronto Pizza, and then decided that since it was Bryan's birthday, and all he really wanted to do was see the Colosseum, we'd head there first. So we hopped on the metro and rode to the Colosseum. We decided not to wait in line and go inside since it would have taken forever (and the outside is more impressive anyway) but we walked around the entire thing and took lots of pictures.

Eventually we headed back to Candia for a nap and then got up to get ready for B's big birthday bash. We ate some dinner first and then went to Scholar's, which is COMPLETELY different. They expanded into the space next door, so the entry is the same and they have a make-shift hallway up that leads you right and into the bar. I was actually kind of bummed that it wasn't the same, even though it was essentially the same place. We all lied and said we went to UC Rome so we could get cheaper drinks (American's get discounts if they study in Rome) and stayed there for a few hours before we headed to La Maison, which is also completely different and was super empty.

And then we came home, I made some gnocchi and Bryan skyped with his family while everyone else slowly left the room or climbed into bed to go to sleep. Apparently, he was on the phone for hours after we had all knocked out.

And that was the end of "day one."

Pace!
Erin