Day Two

HOLY SHIT!! I'M IN ROME!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe it!!!!

We checked into our hotel and then we headed out for a walking tour of Rome. OMG! GORGEOUS! One of the first things that we saw was where the Ancients used to hold sporting events and you could see how deep the actual ground level of Ancient Rome was. We then walked through Piazza Navona and we saw an obilesk being restored. That's when we headed to the Pantheon! AMAZING!!! INCREDIBLE!!! How did they build that? Woolsey was so cute.. such a little history nerd, making us kneel down and touch the floor of the Pantheon, trying to feel the history. So funny. I couldn't feel a damn thing but cold floor.



While walking around we saw a few more obilesks. The one with the carvings all around it tells the story of Marcus Aurelius. We met at the end of the street by this huge fountain. It was hysterical because some older guy was sitting on the back of a lion statue. I found it so funny. I had to take a picture!

Dinner was AWFUL!! They gave us a tiny little salad and then a small plate of pasta with meat sauce. We're all still starving!

But after dinner we went on a night tour of Rome by bus. GORGEOUS!! We got off the bus to take AMAZING pictures of St. Peter's Bascillica. Then we went through the tunnel that runs under Vatican City. We also saw the theater, the Colosseum (AHHH!), the Roman Baths (WOW!), the Spanish Steps, a gorgeous view of Rome from the top of the steps, and the Trevi Fountain. We all ate gelato then came back to the hotel, ready to CRASH!



The room was TINY and the shower drain wasn't really working so Sabaa and I had to rush our showers to not overflow the bathroom.

Early morning tomorrow!

Day One

We arrive at Newark Airport about 2 hours earlier than necessary. However, at 5:00 we were still short 4 kids! We thankfully made it through check-in and security unphased. It wasn't until we were ready to board that one student told us that he lost his wallet. GREAT!

But we shared our first round at the bar waiting to board for Munich. We toasted off our trip but not without a few laughs at Sabaa not believing she's high maintenance and Woolsey's "I'm gellin'" comment (which had Sue and I rolling on the floor with laughter!)

We took a few quick pictures of the group and of chaperones and then embarked on the trip of a lifetime.

I really felt nervous about this trip in general. I was to be responsibe for 36 kids in a foreign country. YIKES! Who trusted me with this?!

The plane ride from Newark to Munich was almost impossible for me! I'm already a problematic flyer. I started out good. Take off was smooth. Felt great. Watched Juno (very cute!), listened to my Ipod, at a disgusting dinner, then tried to catch some sleep - not very likely! I had an aisle seat and Nicole R. was sleeping next to me... I don't know how she was doing it! She made it look so easy to fall asleep! But I had so little room and nothing to lean on so I had a really hard time getting comfortable to fall asleep. Thankfully Sabaa was like 20 rows ahead so I didn't have to listen to her the whole time. Sorry Sabaa- I love you and everything but I just wanted to sleep and you're so loud!

We only had about a half hour to catch our connecting flight. That made me stress but we all made it. From Munich to Rome, I was sitting in the very last row of the plane. Again, stress level has dramatically decreased because (knock on wood) everything so far has been great and easy (with the exception of the wallet issue which was not found...) Getting our bags and finding our tour guide and bus was easy...

HOLY SHIT! I'M IN ROME!!!!!!!!!!