Home (almost) (Trip Day #15)

Honestly, I thought this trip was longer than 2 weeks.  I thought it was more like 3 weeks, but according to the count at the top, I am wrong.  Oh well.  

This morning we woke up at 5:45 and got out of that awful bed for the very last time.  Oh thank goodness!  We checked out and went to the metro, then to the train, and finally got to the airport.  Italian airports, actually just the one in Rome, is bizarre!  All the terminals are separate and you need a bus to get to each (not that weird granted).  But then you check in for your flight more than once.  First they looked at our passports for a whopping 15 seconds and identified that we only had 1 suitcase (the other went home with my parents).  Then we waited in another area to actually check in and get rid of our suitcase.  Bizarre.  Onto another bus to get to the gates.  Seriously? Overkill much?

Wait for an hour.  Try to get rid of euros - kind of successful (we still have 4).  Plane.  Plane. Plane.  The two Italians in front of us were very popular - other guys kept coming over to hang out and bounce their seats.  And they smelled.  Sorry, I needed to complain.  10 hours later, we arrived!!!!  Customs, luggage, found my mom. HOME! Well, almost.  Tomorrow we are waking up and driving home.  We have to pick up our pool passes, go to the grocery store, and .... there was something else I think. Eh.  We are home for a total of 7 days before we leave again for the next leg of our plane travels this summer. 

Here are some things we have learned on this trip.

1.     Israel has strange sized beds - generally wide enough, but length is questionable at best

2.     Israel has one sheet for the bed, medium weight, definitely not long enough

3.     Too much hummus exists, but only for a little while (2 days most)

4.     Hot is a relative term and changes even though the temperature didn't

5.     Israel has amazing breakfast!

6.     Italian breakfast is lacking in so many ways

7.     Tour guides are important and they take care of knowing everything so you don't have to look like a tourist with a book in your hands

8.     You need good walking shoes and a backup set of inserts

9.     Armpits smell really bad

10.  This trip was too long by a day

11.  Bring shampoo and conditioner.  No one gives you conditioner and only some give you shampoo. Everyone gives you body soap and says it's okay to use on your head.  Weird.

12.  I only took 1995 pictures.  And I deleted about 75-125 on the plane on the way to Rome.  My camera & memory card are AWESOME!