Atlanta, Georgia to Rome, Italy – 2/2/2015 to 2/3/2015

FEBRUARY 2-3, 2015

Long long day and night. We got up and walked over to a local Waffle House for breakfast/lunch (blinner).

A happy crew that seemed happy to see us. — A happy crew that seemed glad to see us.

Taking the Shuttle. — Taking the shuttle.

We walked back to the hotel and the shuttle was leaving. The young man driving the shuttle was not very talkative so Michael and I just enjoyed the drive to the huge Atlanta airport. Once we got to the airport we made our way to the international terminal (which is quite a ways away and involves another shuttle).

We got to the international terminal and checked-in right away, then we got the bags checked in. The terminal wasn’t very busy, for which we were grateful as it has been a few years since we’ve flown international. We walked and walked to get to our area and just sat and waited. They had nice plug in areas for computers and phones. As the time got closer to board, the area filled up more and more. We heard lots of different languages being spoken.

It is a beautiful airport, clean and nice.

Cleared security and came to an area with this great chandelier.

We were in terminal G and needed to be in F. They ran from A through F. To the Train.

I counted 16 screens with 30 departures per screen.

Sorry for the blur. Wanted you to see, seating for maybe 4 at the ends, the rest is poles and floor.

Pretty woman confirming our gate and terminal.

Saw this small suit and stopped to read. Belonged to Martin Luther King Jr.

He wore it when he met with LBJ in the white house. — He wore it when he met with LBJ in the White House.

He worked for his father, what a large shadow in the father’s place.

A mall sized food court. We meant to go back but never did, too full from brunch.

Sergeant flying by on a 3 wheeled electric scooter.

Another interesting display, this time on Margret Mitchell

And the Mt Rushmore guy, Borelum. — And the Mt Rushmore guy, Borglum.

We got on the plane and Michael was so very glad we decided to upgrade to economy comfort class. It cost us $139.00 each – but it gave us a little more leg room and it took a lot of the pain out of the flight for Michael. The chairs seemed much roomier and they reclined more. Not quite first class but it helped. The flight was about ten hours but with the entertainment center in the headrest in front of you, we played games, watched movies, and got to see the progress of the plane. Also, it seemed like they were feeding you every couple of hours. There was quite a bit of turbulence so most of the time we had to wear our seat belts.

We were in the four windows over the wing. — We were in one of the four windows over the wing.

Neat entertainment system. Interactive maps.

This was huge. 4 inches is wonderful and keeps my knees from grinding into the seat in front of me.

You don't feel guilty when you lean back. — You don’t feel guilty when you lean back.

We landed in Rome a little early and made our way through Customs. After we had gotten our bags we were making our way to the train station when a man said he would take a group of us to Civitavecchia for $35.00 each. We were tired, had all our luggage, and didn’t want to mess with the train so we said we would do it. There was another couple in the van with us who are also on the cruise tomorrow. It was fun talking to them as we drove to the port city. It was a lovely drive but it was raining and gray out today.

Bathrooms were nice. Everything worked well.

Hit the countryside pretty quick. Roger and Holly shared the cab.

We were dropped off in front of our B and B Ill Mare but we had to wait a couple of hours for someone to let us in. We had told them we would be in at noon and we didn’t have a phone to call them. Michael tried going to the police station next door to ask about a phone, but he was directed to somewhere else. He also went to go look for the port while I waited with the bags.

The entrance to our B & B. Marble everywhere.

The Sea behind our building. — The sea behind our building.

I went walking, a sea wall on the other side of the road.

Beautiful stone work, marble as a common building material, inside and out.

Found where the cruise ships dock. Not walking there tomorrow.

Watched these guys working for awhile. Hand placing and hammering in each individual stone. Interesting, with the equipment sitting next to them.

Not today though, I am hustling back so as not to get caught in that rain cell.

Mostly new cars everywhere, but the occasional classic.

We got into our room, finally, and it’s a lovely old bedroom with a musty old bathroom. The people running it are very nice, but don’t speak English very well so it’s fun trying to communicate with them. The price for the night was 53.00 Euro. We weren’t sure if we had the place or not because we booked it (through Booking.com) and then we were told it had been canceled, then we got a call from Italy saying to come so….we are now in our room, the bed is comfortable, and we’re getting ready to go to sleep and sleep until tomorrow.

Furniture. TV, 5 channels, all Italian. Lots of US shows, dubbed in Italian.

That was our days. Hope yours were great.

P.S. It is really the 25th of February right now. We are in Fiumicino, outside the Leonardo Di Vinci International airport (Italy) at a hotel. We left the boat today and have rented a car. Tomorrow we drive a little and then the next day fly to Atlanta and drive to Oklahoma. We will publish as soon as we can. We are pretty worn out, but boy have we seen a lot. We look forward to sharing all.

Mike