First Day in Rome

First of all, let me just say...A 12 hour non-stop flight is just too dang long for us. Cerebral palsy boy and rheumatoid arthritis girl just can't do it. We flew Delta from Boise to LAX. Then Delta partnered with KLM who partnered with Air Alitalia. So it wound up being an Air Alitalia plane for the 12 hour LAX to Rome overnight flight. Those seats are tight and close with no legroom! Add in the two folks who sat in front of us reclining their seats all the way back the entire time and it was a miserable trip. The guy sitting in front of me must have had a seat that was a little off because when he reclined his it smashed into my knees. I could not move my legs at all. Ever. And in the reclining position the top of his seat came within just a few inches of my face. Seriously. Maybe six or seven inches away from my head. The whole flippin' flight. Along with hubby being squished by the person in front of him, his TV screen wouldn't turn off so he had a glow in his face all night.

Then there was the baby who was crying. And the restroom I wound up in with no toilet paper. Oh, yeah, and the flight attendant who was gruff and stern and downright rude to passengers (not to us, thank goodness), raising her voice, pointing her finger. Then there was the one who kept coughing in his hand as he was pouring beverages, including my water. I'm going on record right now - if I get sick it is because of him.

And shall we talk about the wheelchair assistance issues at both LAX and Rome? We won't, but we had problems both places.

All those things rolled into one day made us come to a decision.

Never again. Never again will we take an overnight flight. Never again will we take a long flight. Our bodies can't do it. The amount of physical pain the last 24 hours has caused? Unbearable. So we won't be attending that wedding in India. We won't be visiting Australia. And Norway just got taken off our must-see list.

But we're in Rome. Not sure it was worth what we endured, but maybe after the Tylenol PM kicks in and the morning comes we will have a bit more clarity. After taking the Terravision Bus (only 5.30 Euros when you buy the ticket ahead of time -  a great bargain) to the Termini Station we I dragged the suitcase across all those darn cobblestones to get to our hotel. In a drenching rain. In fact, it's been nothing but drenching downpours since we arrived.

A rainy bus ride

We're wet, our clothes are wet, inside the backpack is wet, and the suitcase is in pretty darn wet as well. Clothes are stripped and we have our pjs on - at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Rainy view out our hotel window

We did collect a stash of snacks from the plane (it was too uncomfortable to eat much) along with our two protein bars so we have a boring, mostly unhealthy dinner.

First night's dinner in Rome.

We are desperately in need of some rest. We'll regroup tomorrow and hope to make a better day of it.

And Away We Go...

If you remember, back last year we realized we didn't want to do a bucket list. We followed the lead of Scott Jones (you can see his inspirational Ted Talk here) and decided on a f*** it list. You can find our list here.  If you notice, the first thing on our list is no early mornings. But we had to make an exception today. 

While we were originally going to use this early morning flight to get us a long stopover in Amsterdam on our way to Rome, our flight was changed a couple months back and we were being rerouted through LAX. We could have used those hours in LA to take a tour or head to the beach, but with security the way it is, with traffic the way it is, and with the way hubby's mobility is, we thought it best to just stick close. So a relaxing breakfast, relaxing lunch, and lots of people watching was planned. We found ourselves a quiet corner and did just that.

And also watched construction.

Had some delicious wood-fired pizza.

Left an encouraging words money pocket in a restroom.

Now away we go!

5 Things to do in London, England

It's Wanderlust Wednesday! Today we're talking about what to do in London, England.

It's hard to trim the list to just five things. There is just so much to see and do! But let's try:

1. Eat a proper English breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms, and toast. A hearty way to start the day.

Or if you'd prefer, stop by a patisserie for something sweet.

2. Take a cruise on the Thames. There are many options - cruise only, meals, tours. Choose one that best fits your needs (and mobility). Just the tour for us, please. You'll get a history lesson along with some nice sightseeing views.

3. Take a Hop On Hop Off Bus tour. You can see everything you need to see and get on and off from multiple places around the city.

4. Take a trip out to Stonehenge.

While you're there, try one of the meat pies at the on-site cafe - if you have the patience. The crowds were terrible, the lines were too slow and way too long, but this particular food item was pretty tasty.

5. Try a shorter trip over to Windsor Castle, the oldest occupied castle in the world. If the Royal Standard flag is flying the Queen is in residence. If it's the British flag, she is not.

Or stop by Horse and Groom across the street for some chips. (Fries to us in the U.S.) Don't forget to check out their interesting bathroom walls.

London is a city that will require more than one trip - or more than a couple days - to tackle.

Golden Circle Tour, Iceland

It's Wanderlust Wednesday! Today we're talking about the Golden Circle Tour in Iceland.

“The problem with driving around Iceland is that you’re basically confronted by a new soul-enriching, breath-taking, life-affirming natural sight every five goddamn minutes. It’s totally exhausting.” 
― Stephen Markley, Tales of Iceland or "Running with the Huldufólk in the Permanent Daylight"

Being the travel planner/booker/arranger/idea person in my family, a cruise is actually the best chance I get at having a vacation. My work is done ahead of time and the ship does the rest. But there are times we like doing land vacations.

Iceland is one of those places. While cruise ships do go to Iceland, those voyages are expensive. And I'm cheap. So when the price over Thanksgiving Break dropped to bargain basement prices, we jumped on it.

Thank goodness. We soaked in the Blue Lagoon. Spent time in the cafes and restaurants in Reykjavik, saw the Northern Lights, and took a Golden Circle tour.

It was full day tour around Iceland's Golden Circle.
We checked out Crater Kerid where the blue water contrasted with the red and green walls.

We climbed hundreds of icy wooden steps to get great views of the Gullfoss Waterfall. We've heard new steps have since been installed.

Got sprayed by the Strokkur geyser. They don't rope those things off like they do in the US. Get too close and you'll get wet.

 Got to hang with some Icelandic horses. I called this one Tina Turner.

 Made a stop at Þingvellir National Park.

Which one thing was the best? Well, all of them.

As we saw the sunset over Greenland on our flight home, we knew we'd have to get there someday, too.

Reykjavik, Iceland

It's Wanderlust Wednesday! Today we're talking about Reykjavik, Iceland.

Our suitcase that was taken from the Blue Lagoon in Iceland wasn't our first luggage mishap of the year. On the way back from our Spring Break trip it had made it's way from LAX to Puerto Vallarta instead of heading home with us to Boise. Got it back. Then it gets taken in Iceland at Thanksgiving? (We did eventually get it back. We weren't stranded in Iceland without clothes for the entire week. Yay!)

That's good because we needed our stuff. We had places to go and things to do.

Loved the minimalism in the hotel room. 

Found some yogurt and snacks in the airport store. Loved, loved, loved both.

Tasty hot dogs and delicious hot chocolate in Reykjavik.

The city was preparing for Christmas. I could even drop off a letter for the Icelandic Santa if I wanted to.


The best view of all comes if you climb to the top of this...

Where you can look out the top windows and see this...

 Beautiful Reykjavik.

Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik, Iceland

It's Wanderlust Wednesday! Today we're talking about the Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik, Iceland.

I'm not sure how our new black suitcase with colorful tape wrapped around the handle and the loud luggage tag could be mistaken for someone else's, but it was. They had our winter clothes with them and we didn't. And it was cold in Iceland during our Thanksgiving break.

At least it happened after our visit to the Blue Lagoon. Actually, technically it happened during our visit to the Blue Lagoon. A transfer from the airport to our hotel in Reykjavik included a stop at the famous Blue Lagoon. Very warm blue-looking geothermal pools were a super-nice way to get warmed up and relax after our long Idaho-to-Iceland flights. Many airport-to-Reykjavik city transfers add the Blue Lagoon so the place is prepared for tourists. They even have a baggage check right where the bus pulls up to drop you off.

We had read ahead of time that you are required to shower before entering the pools. Showering naked, that is. Nope, no swimsuits allowed during the shower. There are attendants in the locker rooms monitoring the showering. And monitoring that you are really dried off before stepping back to the locker room. Interesting.

But the water in the pools, oh my! Warm, bordering on hot. Full of minerals. Want super-soft silky skin? Try using some of the pots of silica found in the lagoon. Rub some of it on your face and body and you'll come away with skin feeling soft as a baby's bum.

The Blue Lagoon is one of those places that pictures where the pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of the place.

Such a relaxing day.

The relaxation ended when we went to pick up our luggage before catching the shuttle to our hotel. The luggage that had been taken by someone else. An extensive search of the luggage storage area came up empty. So off to the hotel with nothing but the clothes on our back. Let's call that an adventure.