Ciao, Italia

Sunday, July 24 was our last day to savor Italy and we had plans to meet my sister, Lesle ,who is a flight attendant for Delta. She had snared a much favored working trip from Atlanta to Rome and had arrived that morning. We were planning to meet at the Pantheon, shop, have an early dinner and then she would "work" the trip back to the US the next morning with us onboard.

Fate saw it differently and we never connected as we left text and phone messages on her cell and she left email messages for us. She did not even have her phone with her and we had not purchased wifi at the hotel. So we were all in Roma at the same time but finally saw one another on Monday when the flight crew appeared in the boarding area at the airport. C'est la vie or whatever the Italian equivalent might be.

The airport Hilton runs a free shuttle downtown every two hours so we hopped the two o'clock  and were actually dropped off at the Victor Emmanual "wedding cake" Monument which is just a few blocks from the Pantheon.

Victor Emmanual Monument

 We quickly joined the hordes at one of the oldest buildings in continuous use in the world. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa about 27BC and its' dome is still the largest unreinforced  concrete dome anywhere on the planet. Pretty impressive on both counts.

Though it was built to honor "all gods" in the ancient world, it has been a Catholic church since the 7th century and mass had been held that morning.  Since the Renaissance, the Pantheon has been used as a tomb and one can see the grave of Raphael among others including two kings of Italy. The dome was used by the architect, Brunelleschi as inspiration when designing the  beautiful Santa Maria Novella Church in Florence and the portico is often called the "umbrella of Rome"  as people flock under its' protective expanse during rainstorms! Its' connection with the Renaissance is so tight that it was a necessary stop for Betsy after completing her art history class!

The small side streets around the Pantheon teem with shops, cafes and restaurants so we combed the area and lucked into a precious toy shop, Zortolucci, where Rider enjoyed peering at the handpainted clocks, toys and bric-a-brac but definitely had an opposite reaction when he found himself next to some large wooden  figures on the bench.

Lots to buy!

Who are these people?

After an overpriced meal in a local cafe ( filled mostly with tourists...who are the only ones eating at six o'clock in Italy ), we headed back to catch our bus near the 'wedding cake'. We thought it a good idea to try to tire our boy out so we let him do one of the things he likes best-climb steps. We chose the steps to the Basilica Di Maria Aracoeli , never thinking he could make it to the top.        

The steps

It must be a challenge written down in some tourist guide as the area was busy with brash young men and women traipsing madly up the steps. And, yes, he climbed virtually to the top where Betsy hoisted him in celebration. He is a strong fellow!

The celebration

To complete the celebration, we had yet more gelato, caught the bus and went back to the hotel where we put him to bed after a much needed bath in a real bathtub. We packed, drank a bottle of Chianti and slept as soundly as the baby.

Our flight was scheduled for 10:30 am and we were advised to arrive at the airport at least 2.5 hours early which we did. On the positive side, the hotel was helpful in transferring all the luggage with their compliments ( and with about $30 in tips). Also Delta check-in personnel were polite and courteous but, to our chagrin,  we learned that the flight was delayed and not due out until 12:30! Our mistake not checking emails or with Delta....hours to kill in the airport with a rowdy little boy. 

Actually, he was as good as could be expected and we were able ( with Lesle's intervention, I think) to exchange our 'economy plus' seats for seats at the bulkhead in the  regular economy section AND we had a whole row of three which afforded us a place to make a pallet for Rider at our feet. It was much appreciated to have that empty seat and made placating him on the long trip home much easier. He took a three hour nap and was generally pretty easy to entertain. He especially enjoyed peering over the seat to the ten year old behind us and peering around the seats to the two teenagers across the aisle. Betsy strolled the aisles with him and  Lesle, when she had a break from work, took a turn walking with him. He loved playing with her keys and flashlight ! The hardest part of the trip was probably changing diapers...those poopy pants aren't easy with a squirming baby anywhere much less an airplane bathroom.

The pilots made up some time and we arrived in Atlanta just ahead of a nasty thunderstorm. Getting through customs was the usual Atlanta hassle of collecting bags and then resubmitting them to be picked up at baggage claim.  That process is supposed to change in 2012 with the construction of the new international terminal and it will be, no doubt, welcomed by travelers.

With the thunderstorm, the bags didn't come off the belt until about an hour after we expected. Another delay but we were home so it didn't seem so bad. Grandfather (aka Paul) met us and, thankfully, was our chauffeur home to Jasper!  A long trip, successfully completed. As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

The last leg for Betsy and Rider would occur three days later as they traveled on to Los Angeles. A little time to wash clothes, shop for 24 month togs at the Carter outlet for our growing boy and generally regroup.

What an incredible adventure and, for me, a trip I will long treasure. Ciao, Bella Italia.