:: Italy '09, Day 0 ::

Before our life got absolutely crazy for March & April, Jess and I spent an awesome eight days in Italy. It was a last-minute trip, planned in December out of a desire for a "cheap, relaxing long-weekend getaway" for the two of us. It was far from relaxing; it was far longer than a long weekend; and 'cheap' might be a stretch when it was all said and done, but since aa.com was trying to close out 2008 with profits up a bit, they were selling tickets at a price we couldn't pass up. So "goodbye, long weekend on a beach; hello Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, Pompeii, Capri, train rides, pizza, wine, and exchange rates!"

"Italy '09" was going to be the thing our family and friends asked us about this year - and in the two days between getting back to the states and breaking my wrist, many folks did ask about it. Over the next few days, I'll throw up a few pics and do a quick walk-through of our whirlwind tour of one of the coolest countries in the world. So, here goes: Italy was awesome! We freaking loved it and would highly recommend it as a wonderful, well-worth-the-time-and-cost vacation. It was an incredible mix of antiquity, hospitality, uniqueness, refreshment, rest, and awe-inspiring sights.

For today, we'll start with the plane ride: Knowing we were hitting Rome running as soon as we landed, we knew it would be wise to adjust to the time difference, so we set our watches ahead as soon as we boarded, ate our dinner, watched one of the in-flight movies, then took our little magical sleeping pills so we could sleep for the remaining seven hours of the flight. This plan worked great.

For Jess.

I, however, was not impacted by said magical pills.

Light sleeper + moving airplane + people moving + the guy behind me coughing up a lung = no sleep. I moved to a different seat, spread myself out on the floor with those tiny red blankets, listened to Lanterna on my iPod - I even considered a second sleeping pill (and decided against it). So with two hours 'til landing, I resigned myself to staying awake, listened to music, looked over the Rome guidebook, and read a bit. But, about 6am, I was rewarded for my "not sleep": the sunrise over Spanish mountains was stunning from 30,000 feet!


Then we started our descent into Rome, with a great view of the Italian coast on the way down. Jess woke up, we ate breakfast, and after customs, headed to drop our stuff at the hotel and head down to 1000's of years of history as we explored ancient Rome! More on that in the next post...