Italy!

I have been in Italia for one week and 3 days now. I spent the 1st day just on the outskirts of Roma, eating twice at a delicious restaurant walking distance from my Hotel Capanelle called Piazzetta del Gusto. The pasta was fresh and homemade and the wine was cheap and all was deliciouso! The 2nd day I drove to Pescara and found a medevil vecchio village in Monte Silvano that overlooked the Adriatic Sea. Molto Bueno! It was very windy that day but very nice outside, just cool enough to wear a light jacket. I took many nice photos and videos which I promise will litter this blog once I get home.

When I arrived in Pescara, it was right at 12noon and the church bells were ringing so I parked and went inside and had my first mass in Italy. Couldn't understand a thing, except for "dpace" pronounced pah-chay means Peace. And a few words of the Our Father. After it was over, I started to walk around a bit, it was kind of like a downtown city, but since nothing was opened, I decided to get back in the car and see if I could find the Madonna Sette Dolori I had set out to see. I discovered some beautiful countryside and winding roads, and small villages, and cafès where no one spoke English, but I could order a cafè (espresso) confidently in Italian saying per favore and grazie. I never found the Madonna, but I eventually made it back to Roma after getting lost many times. I cried to the gas station attendant that was the 3rd place I had stopped for directions and no one could speak to me. I wanted to go home. I think I was not used to being so disconnected from the world, from my phone, the internet, English, just everything. And I was alone.
But the next day I was going to meet Laila in Roma!

I met her at the airport Fiuminico where I dropped off my smart car (the tiniest car in the world and so fun to drive 140km per hour and I was still going too slow for some of these drivers!) and we took the Trenitalia to via Ottaviano where our hostel was located. It was about 1 minute walking distance from the Vatican so it was a very nice location. Diana (dee-anna) checked us in, gave us a room key, we dropped our stuff off and went out to walk around  bit and get some gelati! It was a bit cold so I ended up buying a nice warm fuzzy and soft scarf from the gypsy's which are EVERYWHERE in this country trying to push their wares on you. We found Millenium, the most delicious gelato we found in Roma. Only 10 minute walk from our hostel, Perfect. This was Monday night, Laila was tired so we went back to the hostel and she went to bed. I met some great people who had been staying there for a few nights already. Anna, Maria Jesus, Jonathan, Bog Dan, Edwardo (I think) and John Micheal from New York. I called him short sleeves. They invited me out with them and I went and am so glad I did because so far it was the most fun I've had at night in Italy. Laila always wanted to go to bed early and I never do. So anyways, we were looking for Campo di Fiore and found The Drunken Ship where our bartender Jill, from New Jersey and has lived in Rome for 2 years, immediately bought us all shots! It was a fun night and I took some nice pics on my phone which I will of course upload later.

The next day was our cooking class and I think I will write more later. ciao for now.

Adomani.