The fountain in the centre of Piazza Navona in Rome

The Pantheon

The Trevi Fountain

A 6-course Italian dinner in Rome (entertainment included!)

Doing the Macarena in between courses

Dancing in the aisle on the bus

This morning was another long drive (with plenty of sleep during it) as we headed for the Eternal City, Rome. So far, I wasn't too impressed with Italy. Part of it was the culture shock, coming from Switzerland, and also that we rushed through Milan without really seeing much. Seeing old discarded appliances on the side of the road in the ditches didn't help either. But my opinion changed when we drove into Rome. We checked into the Airport Hotel Palace in nearby Ostia, which was on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, about 20 minutes outside of Rome. For the first time on the trip, we had very hot weather. The temperature for the duration of our stay in Rome was constantly in the low to mid-30's (I'm talking Celsius here).

After some time to check in and freshen up, we hopped back on our motorcoach and drove into the Eternal City. We dropped off those who weren't going to participate in the optional walking tour and dinner, drove a little further and departed ourselves. Andee took us on a rather brisk walking tour around the winding and narrow streets of Rome, visiting such sites as the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain (where you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain to ensure a safe return to Rome), and the Trastevere District. Just walking around was an experience, as the drivers in Rome are absolutely relentless. Andee did warn us that in Rome, "traffic lights are only a suggestion". To cross any road, even at a designated crossing, we would have get into a big scrum (a large group) and literally force our way onto the road to make the drivers stop and allow us to cross. Drivers on mopeds or motorcycles would simply weave in between the pedestrians.

We made it to our destination for dinner, which would be our most entertaining and most filling one on the whole trip. We had a room to ourselves in the lower floor, entertaining guitar and accordion players/singers that would go back and forth between rooms, as well as entertaining and playful waiters. We can't forget about the food either. It was a traditional Italian dinner, which meant it was big with several courses served. When we were served our main pasta dish, everyone but one female from every table received their plate. Then for each of the remaining females, one of the waiters would present the dish on a special platter to the females one by one after banging a spoon on a platter to draw attention. After presenting each of the platters, the waiter would play a trick to either give a kiss or receive a kiss from each of the girls. It was either a simple peck on the cheek, or covering up the adjacent male's face while the waiter gave a kiss, or asking for a kiss on the cheek and then turning around just a split second before to receive one full on the lips, or a fake to kiss the female and then turning around and kissing the male beside her. It was a great dinner and a fun time had by all, which included Brian (from Ohio) joining in with the entertainers to play guitar, a foursome of girls doing the Macarena in the middle of the room, and plenty of flowing Italian wine and champagne.

The riotous time continued as we made our way back to the motorcoach. Andee just fueled the fire by putting on a tape that started with songs from the movie Grease, which got everyone on the coach singing and dancing in the aisle. When we picked up those who did join us for dinner, we greeted them to boos, to let them know they missed a great dinner and fun night overall. We continued on back to the hotel, with the singalong tunes and jumping up and down in the aisle, while the those who weren't with us at dinner just looked at us like we were all a bunch of stupid drunks (which may or may not have been true :-).