sitting on a different quilt.: Florence/Rome, Italy June 19

Today has been all about loading up, heading out, and catching up on the blog. We got up early around 8 am this morning and gathered the rest of our things and tidied up a bit so Laura did walk into a piggy mess of an apartment. I was feeling sad this morning about leaving Florence, Laura, and missing my cats. So while I drank my coffee from my machinetta, Craig played me some funny cat videos and that got me feeling good again.

It was time to go and we returned our keys to Laura and told her, "Molto Molto Grazie!" "Il tuo cibo perfecto (your food was wonderful), and we had a wonderful time!" I was sad to say goodbye to her, but it was such a good experience and we couldn't have asked for better.

I should have done this sooner, but here are pictures from our villa in Florence:

This is what it looks like when you're walking up to the villa gate. All of the homes in this area are individually gated by stone walls.

This is the entrance to Laura's part of the villa.

This is the large patio in front of Laura's entrance.

Laura's Living Room.

To the left of Laura's patio was our garden area, and entry to our apartment.

I would sit out on this table and drink coffee or wait for Craig before going out.

Here it is from a further angle more by our entry.


The view from the patio of our entry.

Those double doors are the entry, so you're in the kitchen first.

Then you walk through a small hallway and this bathroom is on the right. There are doors on the left that lead to Laura's part of the villa. They usually remain locked.

This is obviously the bedroom at the end of the hallway. Opposite of the bed are giant built in closets. Lucia said this was her room when she was growing up and the kitchen area, wasn't a kitchen but just a hangout room for her and her friends.

It hasn't even been 24 hours and I feel sad looking at these pictures! Anyways, on to Rome! We took the bus down to the train station and waited for about an hour. I took this time to write post cards. I didn't get them all done, but will work more on them in Rome. When 12:30 came, we went up to the trains and found our area. Getting on the train was pretty hectic this time. Well, for one... the last time we got on a train we got on first class! So, coach was a lot different and language barriers did not make it any easier. When they opened the doors everyone was crowding on. Our seats were pretty much in the middle of the cart, but we entered on the end. There was no door in the middle. When I was getting onto the car, there was a man who was helping the women by lifting their luggage onto the train. I had seen him do this several times, so I didn't feel too worried. However, when we got on the train he proceeded to insinuate that he wanted to help me with my bag by lifting it. I said, "No Grazie." And then again, but firmer. It was a bit tense because there were people trying to squeeze through the isle going in opposite directions but there was no place to step out of each other's way. So, I had at least 3-4 men trying to squeeze past me, and another man behind me trying to "help" me with my bag. He very well may have been trying to sincerely help me, but I've also heard you need to be wary of people being extra nice to you. I could easily see how these men could have bombarded us on person to get close to our pockets. Luckily, everything was tucked away and I made it through the biggest manwich of my life.

I worked on my blog the whole train ride. When we got off, we went straight for the taxi and I'd say Craig and I were feeling pretty confident as travelers of Italy at this point. Our taxi driver was confused by our address and made me call the woman meeting us at the apartment. I tried showing him the address on Google Maps and such, but he kept looking through his phone book map looking thing. Eventually, we got there.

Rome definitely has a rougher look than Florence. It doesn't seem like they are trying to impress anyone. It's a bit like Florence, but with a New York twist. Kind of like, "This is us. Take it or leave it."

We got to the apartment and Yeliz was there to show us around the place. She is German but grew up in Rome. After she left, we went for pizza and to the grocery store to get some staple items. The rest of the night was for more catching up on the blog and making plans for the rest of our trip. I had spent so much time preparing for Florence that I haven't had the time to research much of Rome, yet. But I think Craig's gotten more excited since we've been here and he's more into planning with me now. So we'll see what happens! Here are some pictures of our apartment in Rome:

When you first walk in, you see the kitchen on your right.

Everything is pretty modern, design wise, in the apartment. The refrigerator looks like the read cabinets and doors you see around the oven.

Bar/Table in the kitchen.


Another shot of the sink.

The Bathroom is also on your right, right after the kitchen. I'm very excited about the jacuzzi tub, but so far we both agree the shower stinks. It's leaky, low pressure, and unpredictable temperature-wise.

Then you walk straight into the living room. A dining room table is on the right, and a project table is on your left but you can't see it very well. The blue sofa converts into a bed. Notice all of the lights. There aren't any overheads, but the owner obviously loves light fixtures. It adds a nice touch, for sure.