I want to break down a vacation I took on a day by day style of writing. Feel free to let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy!

Travel is always fun, quirky, and for me, as long as the arrival part happens I don’t really care how the rest unfolds. I am unable to sleep on a plane, no matter how long the flight is. So when I land I usually like to go to bed early on, so the rest of my vacation is not tainted by fatigue. The sleeplessness has not a glimmer of cause in fear, it is purely the excitement of uninterrupted time. Time for stillness to read a book or to have a movie binge fest…best day ever! So while people decide to be fast friends and sleep on me and snore, thank God for headphones, I enjoy all the moments that I get to relax.

Getting off the plane we headed to the train station for a quick trip toward our hotel. Note to self, leaving through the back gives a total different view then the front. The front doors would have led to a view of busy streets and a quick few blocks to the hotel to drop off our luggage. The back, well, that shows you the other side of the coin. After walking through an eternity of back allied cobblestone streets, people laughing and shaking their heads, homeless resting where they can, we finally arrived at the hotel. Weary and desiring to off load the baggage I was carrying, pun intended, we discovered that we were 4 hours too early for check in. Without rest I was not my usual quick witted self and learning rapidly why I usually am the person that handles directions. We left our bags with the attendant and stumbled our way around the streets of Rome in quest for nourishment, until we turned a corner to go into a church (they truly are amazing works of art) and spied the Colosseum. Interwoven with my thoughts of awe, historic intrigue and delight, I knew there had to be food near and this girl was in need of a glass of wine!

Back to the church real quick, I’m going to share a photo that I took after saying play that funky music white boy (enormous organ, to say the least). Fed and watered, I felt slightly more energetic. I knew we had a dinner idea for the future and I knew that is where the wine would happen. I had a moment glancing upon a decaying old stone wall that had wisteria climbing through the iron with graffiti tags that I knew this city was for me. The idea of people trying to rush about in there every day life, quick and hurried, while every turn showed a piece of history, of artistry, of  screams of the past standing triumphant over time, was engaging for all senses. I loved the dirty parts intermingled with the beautiful parts, the fresh new fun interwoven into old tales. I love that about humanity in general though, so this was normal times 100.

Viewing the majesty of the city briefly from a hop on/hop off bus, gave us an idea of where we wanted to revisit the next day after some rest. After checking into the hotel and washing up we enjoyed walking around hither and yon, stumbling upon ideas as fast as relics. Our first evening, a member of our party wanted us to enjoy a roof top dining experience that she had enjoyed with her late husband. So in honor of their time we headed to find it from her memories vault. We arrived early enough to watch the sun set over St Peters Basilica. Thinking of fine dining restaurant portions in California wine country I talked everyone into trying a tasting menu per person. Silly me, as someone very familiar with Italian families, I forgot about the portion size. At the end of our meal I remember being grateful for the amount of walking we were going to do the next day. Mentally preparing myself for smaller meals, got to love Mercato Trionfale take away! Blessed with a belly full of hearty, wonderful food and the Montepulciano shared around the table, I was very ready to rest my head after checking in on my home front. Next will be day 2 with the Vatican highlight reel.

Enjoy every moment you can travel, even if it is in a glass or in your own neighborhood. Every day withholds moments in need of discovery.

Cheers!