We're Baaaaaaa-ack!

I can't believe that we haven't been in this hotel in a whole week! It was a huge let down to leave Rome last night and have to come back here. Deaner and I were discussing in the airport last night that we were pretty bummed out about having to leave Rome. Seeing Deaner's college buddy was the closest tie to home that we have had in 9 weeks so we were both sad to leave. Anyways, now that we are home I can't believe that I haven't written a post since Thursday! I figure that the best way to do this is to start from the beginning. I'll probably have to break up the trip into several different posts though or else everyone will be bored to tears with our travels! Since I'm still in the process of uploading the pictures from Rome it might be tomorrow before I post about our first day in Rome. When I left off, I believe I had mentioned being sprayed almost to death by the psycho shower head in the hotel room in England! Our last night in England we went to this pub for dinner with a friend of a co-worker of Deaner's. The friend was less than desirable but the ambiance of the pub was incredible. Here is a shot of the inside dining room.I couldn't have been more excited to see the most awesome combination ever on the menu.....homemade lasagna AND french fries!!!!Not to mention that giant beer right next to it! It was a match made in carb heaven! Poor Deaner had to drive us there because his boss bailed at the last minute so he only got to enjoy one beer. Thank goodness I got to have two or else my nerves would have been shot riding with him in the car on the way home! That left side of the road thing and wheel on the wrong side is a real bummer! At least he got to enjoy this GIANT DUCK!We were all very happy with the experience. I'm looking forward to enjoying these small little pubs next time we go back!

Friday morning it was up and at 'em at the crack of dawn. We had to get back to London Stanstead for an early flight back to Frankfurt. The weather looked like it was going to be beautiful in London but we were eager to get back to Germany so we could make the quick turn around and get back to the airport to head to Rome. I did overhear a really funny conversation between a mother and child while sitting in the airport waiting to board. The little boy had a sister that was toddling around the airport. The conversation went like this.....

Child: "Mommy, do babies have to grow their ears"?
Mother: "Whaa?? What did you just say"?
Child: "How old are babies when they grow their ears"?
Mother: "Honey, babies are BORN with their ears already! They don't have to grow them!"
Child: "Oh, well o.k. I just didn't remember so and so (sister) having ears when she was born"!

I can't tell y'all how long I laughed at this.

The flight home was uneventful until the last 10 seconds. As we were gracefully approaching the runway I was busy packing up my stuff and getting ready to bolt once they opened the doors of the plane. To my surprise our plane SLAMMED into the runway so hard that there was a communal gasp/shout amongst all the passengers. I have never been on a plane that has landed so hard in my life and we do quite a bit of flying. Passengers always clap when a Ryan Air flight lands but there was no clapping on Friday morning! I felt lucky that my teeth were all still in place!

Thankfully we landed on time (Ryan Air also plays a little Anthem victory song if the plane lands early. We were early but after that landing I guess they thought it poor taste to brag about being early)! We managed to run all the way back to Wiesbaden, switch out our clothes, and get back to the airport in time for our next flight. The flight to Rome was easy, Deaner's friend picked us up, and we head to their apartment. It was an early night since we had been traveling all day and we wanted to be up bright and early to see the sights! Stay tuned because tomorrow I am going to post tons of pictures! Saturday included the Trevi Fountain (my new favorite fountain to go along with my favorite statue!), the Pantheon, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele (I need to look up what it is called in English), the Colosseum, Palantine's Hill, and the Ancient City. Whew! And yes, I was quite hot and tired at the end of the day! Not to mention a bit farmer's sunburned! I've got a ton of great pictures and stories to tell so just get ready!