It’s the end of the holiday vacation for me, and I told myself I would post on the last day before school starts. So here I am. Posting. Forced creativity, oh joy!
For the first part of my vacation, I skipped the last week of school and ran away to Paris with my parents. We stayed in a nice little hotel in Montmartre (a district on the north edge of Paris). It was very convenient, with two metro stops quite close, and lots of little cafes and restaurants withing walking distance. We saw the sights and ate food and argued about how to order tap water at the restaurants. It was tiring, but fun.
Our plane trip to Rome was not so fun. We missed our flight and had to spend a bit more money to get on another (EasyJet is great, btw). Thankfully the trip was short. It was dark when we arrived, and we still had to figure out how to get to the metro and then get to our hotel. The Rome metro is nothing like the Paris system. It’s so small and disappointing after Paris- you can go anywhere in Paris using only the metro. It’s cheap, fast, easy, and ubiquitous. Rome, however, is pathetic. There are only two lines that run N/S and E/W through the center of the city. That’s it! Italians, I am sad for you.
The first night in Rome, we discovered that our hotel is very close to the train station. We also discovered that having a room just off a marble stairwell is not a good idea. It was so very noisy there that I think we barely got a wink of sleep between us. Thankfully, that improved over the next few nights, as we were so tired we really didn’t care.
We walked around Rome a bit and saw a few things- I got lost in the Coliseum, which was fun. We looked at a few of the shops, but we were in the wrong district really, because they were all run by foreigners who had the same merchandise as the next shop over. I did find a nice mercerie, and I bought some good cotton/wool yarn to make Nathalie’s Christmas scarf. I wish now I had bought more- I just can’t find a good yarn shop here.
We ate out, of course, and tried several different things, but just didn’t find much to rave about. The best thing we had was veal with a lemon sauce. That was cooked really well. Otherwise, the food was just so-so. Maybe we weren’t eating at the right places. It’s hard to know. We did have pasta and pizza and gelato, and we also argued about how to ask for tap water at a restaurant. (Do you see a pattern here?)
Our last day in Rome was very short- we woke up at 4, I think, and walked to the train station to catch the Leonardo Express- the shuttle to the airport. We arrived with plenty of time to catch our flight, and we flew straight to London. Why London, you might ask. I will tell you. It’s cheaper to fly from Rome to London to Marseille than to fly from Rome to Marseille. Evidently they don’t have very many flights in that direction. It gave us a chance to see London, though, which was nice. It was very nice to hear all of those British accents. We ate lunch in an airport restaurant and Mom had fish & chips. She definitely gets points for that.
Our flight to Marseille was uneventful, except I got to take off my shoes twice at the security check. I’m just sad I wasn’t wearing my fun socks. I’m sure the security officers were sad, too.
We had Christmas dinner at my pastor’s house, and said goodbye the next day. Mom and Dad flew home to be with the rest of the family, and to recover from their culture shock and jet lag. I’m glad they came, and I’m glad they got home safely and can have all the tap water they want. ;)
That’s our trip in a nutshell- oh, man, I didn’t say nutshell on purpose, but I am so excited that I did. Now I get to use the ‘blogshell’ tag again! I can’t explain why that’s exciting, but trust me, it is.
Anyway, that’s it, in a blogshell, if you will. I’ve spent the last week sitting around at home, being bored and maybe going on a date, but I’m not certain. I’ll be sure to let you know when I find out.
Dad’s uploading the pictures and videos now, and will let me know when he has them ready for public display. I’ll post some and give you some more details about each part of our trip as they come up.
Glad you posted! Since we’ve been gone for 2 weeks, I had no idea you were slacking on your blog. So, good for you. :)
” I’ve spent the last week sitting around at home, being bored and maybe going on a date, but I’m not certain. I’ll be sure to let you know when I find out.”
Do you mean that you went on something that might have been a date? That sounds interesting.
It was and is still very interesting. I’m still deciding what exactly to say about it all, so bear with me. :)
Oh, I’ve got lots of experience bearing life patiently.
;-)
Any chance I could borrow some of that patience for a little while? I promise I’ll give it back…
I would sure lend you some if I could but it, frustratingly, is the kind of thing that has to grow on you. But I’ve been praying ever since I knew you that you’d bear much fruit and I’m confident the Lord is answering that prayer.
I’m so glad for the snow angels.
I do appreciate your prayers!