Holy Roma!

OK. We have a night of free internet in Patras so we are going to throw a quick blog up here to entertain the masses. Keep in mind that the next posts may be coming from us when we are back in the USA. Here is an update on our stay in Rome.

#1-- Let's start with our hotel. We will call it Il Hotel di Joj. The rooms were insanely small and the beds were so tiny and so close together that we were all prepared to wake up cuddling our roommates. One suggestion thrown out on the table was for Brent to give up his bed and sleep in the closet (which, incidently, smelled like absolute ASS) so that Harvey could have the equivalent of a twin bed to sleep in. When we checked out of the hotel, Harvey wanted to make sure he didn't leave anything under the bed. His way of solving that problem? Simply lifting the beds off the ground with one hand. We will be happy to get home so that we can actually turn over in bed.
#2-- Our local tour guide was named STEFANIA!!!! I mean, could that have gotten better? Actually. It can. Tour guides in Europe typically carry something in their hand that extends above the crowd so that the group can easily follow. In London, it was an umbrella with cupcakes. In Florence, it was a green monkey on a stick. In Rome...... it was the italian version of the Twatter!!! Stefania showed up with a giant pink feather attached to a stick. Harvey and Karen almost died when they saw it. AND THEN, when describing a statue in the Vatican Museum, Stefania used the term "fecundity." Harvey and Karen almost pissed themselves. Photos of Stefania and the twatter to come.
#3-- Do we all remember the 15 minute lady from the last post? Well, she is continuing to be a piece of work on a daily basis. Evidently 15 minute lady is allergic to cheese. How do we know this? Because in Rome, she began screeching across the hills to our tour guide, "PAOLA?!?!?!?!?! DO THESE PEOPLE KNOW I CAN'T HAVE CHEESE????? NO CHEESE! NO CHEESE!!!!!" It should be noted that all of the people at these restaurants have spoken at least enough english to understand someone calmly stating "I can't have any cheese on this dish." She has now adopted a hand motion consisting of covering her entire plate with both hands and shaking them violently should anyone come by with a dish of parmesean cheese.
#4-- While on our walking tour of Rome, we had to have these whisper guide systems. These guides connect each person to the tour guide and help everyone stay together and get their learn on. What they also do is transmit private conversations between the tour guide and other members of the group from 100 ft away. In this case it was Stefania being unsympathetic to Princess and her mother, so clearly we loved every delicious second of eavesdropping.
#5-- Our dinner the last night in Il Hotel di Joj was a vast cornicopia of random food. The menu consisted of lasagna as an appetizer, then turkey with french fries and salad as the entree, and tiramasu for dessert. Maybe they needed to clean out the freezer??

Rome's Awards--
The "Boot and Rally" Award: To Paola for vomiting on the Metro, on the street corner, and in her hotel room the first afternoon and still being at breakfast at 7am. Kudos to you, Paola!
The "Hills" Award: To the 3 girls who are having a feud to rival LC and Heidi. We had to have a come to Jesus with them in Rome. Good times!
The "Customer Service" Award: To the clerk at the supermarket for having the nastiest attitude this side of France.
The "Outside Observer" Award: To Joy, Clare's sister-in-law, for seeing the group in action and describing the group as full of "special people."

Delphi Heat Index-- The city bus we took from the Pantheon to Vatican City.
Internal Heat Regulation Award-- The crossbreeze at the Vatican Museum which Karen described as a religious experience.