In Italia!!

It is truly still hard to believe that I am in Italy.  I am sitting in the lobby of a hotel that would not seem out of place in America.  The exception is that the banter of the people behind the counter is definitely not English.

We arrived at the hotel around 12:00 pm.  We had to wait for a while for our rooms to be ready.  We caught quite a shock when we walked into the lobby to find it packed with people.  Come to find out they were at the end of their journey, trying to get home to the north, and stranded.  Apparently all the rental car companies will be in good business for a while!  It is interesting to see the effects of the volcano, even though it has not yet affected us directly.

The flight:  WOW!  That is a really long time.  We left the house about 3:15 am.  Things went pretty smoothly at the airport.  Claudia had to talk to a real person to check in as the computer check in didn't work for her.  It took a little longer, but was no big deal.  Laura was at the airport when we got to Atlanta.  Claudia and Lynn went out of security to see them for a few minutes.  Our flight was re-routed slightly due to the volcano, so the 9 hour 30 min. flight ended up taking over 10.  I was able to sleep some, and watched some movies.

My first impression so far.  I could be anywhere right now.  I have not seen, felt, or experienced anything distinctly Italian yet.  We meet with our tour director in 15 minutes, then we head into Rome proper.  I am sure I will have lots more pictures and more to say the next time!

The adventure begins...