June 12 - Airport:
Salt Lake to Dallas to Amsterdam
Our 7-man crew flew from Salt Lake to Dallas/Fort Worth and had a 4-hour layover in a pentagonal paradise of chairs – our fortress for the day. Sandra introduced Mandy to speed scrabble and she LOVES to spell, while others slept, charged iPods at the special stations, and some were not “of” the game. We left DFW for Amsterdam and had a great flight over except aliens possessed Sandra’s headphones and screeching children awoke us on more than one occasion. Ali sat by herself on both flights because she is a loner J with a different itinerary, thanks to her stay in Germany. When we got to Amsterdam we encountered the slickest customs and security process ever! Compared to years past, this was an uneventful travel experience.
By Fars: upgraded to 1st class (Tanya, Steph and Amy), the 9 inch curtain, sitting around our cove in the DFW airport, what do I do with the hot towel?, Chelsea falling exiting the plane, banana cake, Fuddrucker’s, speed scrabble, charging at a non-working outlet for hours, steph the alcoholic, Ali by herself, Sandra’s alien headset, fastest ever passport and security in Amsterdam, Ali’s pilot - Violet.
June 13 - Amsterdam to Rome
Flew from Amsterdam to Rome on a miniture plane with more space than the transatlantic flight we just exited, we were joined on the flight by the Australian Beach Volleyball team headed to a tourney in Rome (Sandra made quick friends with them by laughing uncontrollably at their Spanish). We gathered our baggage, quick as easy (I’ll keep this joke to myself), and met up with Amanda, who flew on her own dime. We waited a short time and met up with a random lady that let us know Rachel, our guide, would be back shortly with the rest of the EF tour of Americans. Last is best of all the game, so I suppose Mississippi is best, they were the only group to arrive after us – after 3 transatlantic flights YIKES.
We joined a small group from Ogden, a larger group from St Louis, Mississippi and a group from “fake” St Louis (Illinois) on the bus. First tourist stop, the Trevi Fountain - we had about an hour free time to visit the fountain do some site seeing in the area, plus grab some grub. This is where we had our first Italian pizza of the trip and also our first gelato. We paid for this delectable pizza by weight. After our quick jaunt, we met back as a group and visited the Spanish steps. By this time Mississippi had made it to the airport, where the women took a potty break, a water break, and then we all headed to the Hotel Presidente, just outside of Rome. It was an average hotel, probably a motel by US standards. We had our first pasta and mystery meat dinner in the hotel restaurant, feeling the exhaustion taking over we then retired to our rooms on the third floor – Yay for elevators!
By Fars: Laughing at the Australians trying to say 20 in Spanish - “bang me”, Trevi fountain, 1st gelato, PIZZA!, Chelsea locked in the bathroom and Tanya’s tool kit, rooms close together, the great 8!, zoning out during dinner, sister missionaries on the Spanish steps, knowledgeable Rachel, ethnic Rachel, Ali as a horrible pick pocket, Rachel’s introduction to the 2 new “secret pockets” for women.
Ali, Amanda, Chelsea, Amy, steph (me), Sandra, and Tanya
We found MISSIONARIES :)
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