Once a Wildcat, ALWAYS a Wildcat

Thursday, November 13, 2008. Rome, Italy.

We went this morning to the Pantheon (right outside our hotel!!!) which is so interesting because it used to be a pagan house of worship, but once the city was evacuated and only Christians remained, it was turned into a Christian house of worship. Its what the Italians call “recycling.” Later, we went to St. Peter’s Basilica. It was so overwhelming. Everything is so massive—all of the monuments, the paintings… While we were inside, the skies decided to open up and it POURED. To stay dry, we went to see the Popes’ tombs and see the tomb of Pope John Paul II. We waited as long as we could, but we eventually had to leave. We decided to come back to the hotel to change clothes etc because my feet were so wet I practically had all of Lake Lanier in my shoes. Some “boat shoes…” We waited out the rain while our jeans and socks tried to dry out. We put back on our wet clothes (we didn't need to have TWO wet outfits) and spent 20 minutes finding a restaurant the hotel concierge recommended which should have been a 2 minute walk. Such is life.

After a satisfying lunch, we came back to the hotel as the skies looked foreboding. Rome’s second deluge of the day occurred while we were safely in our hotel room (I watched a DVD on my laptop!) I felt guilty being in Rome and watching a movie in our room, but, hey, its vacation and raining. What’s a girl supposed to do?

After our evening of lounging, we went to dinner at the cutest little Italian restaurant. This is what is so wonderful about Italy—ALL of the restaurants are great because they are all family owned! This particular restaurant had only two people eating in it—a cute married couple. We were put at the table next to theirs. Our waiter told us that because things were slow that night, they would give us a free sample of olive oil his family made just last night!! IMAGINE! Can olive oil get any fresher than that?!?! The people next to us were telling us how much they enjoyed their food which lead to us chatting (imagine me making random friends…how strange… haha). We found out that they were from Atlanta (!) and the wife went to WESTMINSTER (!!!!!!!) Thus the blog post title--our high school mascot is the wildcat. How small can the world be?!?! I had a ball talking with her! She studied in Venice when she was in college (not Wake though, don't worry!) After a great risotto dish, our waiter gave us free limoncello and biscotti! I am obsessed with this country! (don't worry, that doesn't mean that I don't miss you too!!)

Now we are back to the hotel and getting up EARLY tomorrow to go to Florence. I hope that my jeans and shoes are dry by then. Otherwise, I’ll be wearing Mommy’s clothes. I hope you are all having a great week! Love you all! xoxo mckin