Day 93
Sunday. December 6, 2009.
Taryn and I got up early and headed out to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful, and the perfect way to say goodbye to Venice. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the ferry boat area and after some confusion, got on the right boat that took us straight to the airport. It was weird to approach the airport knowing that planes were taking off while they were surrounded by water- just such different scenery from what I’m used to. Unfortunately, upon arrival we discovered that our flight was delayed two hours, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. While we were waiting to board, I overheard a guy talking and it sounded like he had an American accent, but then my attention would wander and I’d swear I’d hear a hint of something else, but when I paid attention again, it was a perfect American accent. I always love playing ‘spot the American.’ I really wanted to know where he was from, but I wasn’t as sure of his nationality as I usually am when playing spot the American. So I didn’t ask. However, when we were boarding the plan I discovered that he was a part of a very large group traveling together. They were all speaking English, but with different accents. So I struck up conversation with the guy across the aisle from me. He himself was from Slovakia, and the guy who sounded American to me was actually from Serbia. I was so incredibly impressed with his accent, and his friend told me that he had studied for a while in America, so his accent was much better than everyone else. They were all speaking different languages because they were all grad students from around the world, studying in Italy, but the only language they all had in common was English. He even told me that when touring around Italy on their off days, they would try to speak English first to the Italians, just because they could understand it much better than the little Italian they knew and were learning. It was very interesting to learn their story. I always wonder what other people are doing/where they are going and why when I’m on a flight of train with others. Everyone has a different story to tell.
The airport in Rome is set a way out from the city, so we needed transportation in to the city to our hotel. We ended up getting a taxi like bus that took us directly to our hotel. At first I didn’t think the driving was bad, but then I noticed that the closer to the city centre we got, the more the lanes just looked like suggestions to drivers. I made sure my seat belt was securely fastened. On our way in, we sort of got a mini tour out our windows. We were able to see several monumental places just by getting to our hotel. It sure was a shocker to see the colosseum the first time. Talk about ‘Welcome to Roma!’
