I checked some things online this morning and I’m pretty sure my right elbow isn’t broken, so that’s good. Still hurts though. I can’t do too much heavy lifting with it and it hurts if I move it too fast. I also can’t push myself up with it. Well, that was how I felt this morning. As of tonight I think I can do more, but it’s definitely still not 100% and it’s swollen. My leg is fine, just has a welt that stings a bit. I was worried my shorts would rub against and irritate the welt, but the only problem I had was when I was pulling our suitcase and the edge kept poking into it. That hurt a bit.

Amanda and I had breakfast with Stanton and Sarah this morning at the first place we ate when we got to Paris. Will wasn’t feeling well and slept in.

Amanda said the place had the best coffee she’s ever had so Sarah wanted to try it. Amanda got that and a croissant while the rest of us had crepes. Stanton and I also got some fresh squeezed orange juice, though Sarah drank half of Stan’s glass in one “sip” so they ordered another one.

There was a bit of excitement when Amanda noticed that Sarah had a bee on her neck. She swatted at it and it landed inside her dress n her bra, so she, Amanda and Stanton were trying to do something about it while I kept looking back and forth. I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to stare at Sarah’s bra, so mostly I just looked out the window while everyone else took care of it. Turns out the bee stung Sarah, but it got her dress. Stan threw hone dying bee out the window and put the stinger on the edge of the table. I wiped it off with an unused glass. It was sticky.

Sarah left to go back to Guildford when we got back to the hotel and the rest of us hung out until a little before noon, which was checkout time. We talked to the receptionist, the same one who helped with our safe, and asked her about how long it would take to get to the airport by cab. Turned out we needed to leave pretty soon, so it was a good thing we asked. We thought we had more time.

The check-in line took a good while, but security was quick and we didn’t have too terribly long to wait once we got to our gate. I happened to get a window seat, which turned out to be nice because there was a good bit to see. The first thing that struck me was how little of the land was really developed, which I also thought about England. You’d think since there are 1000+ year old cities all over Europe that they’d have spread out and used up most of the space, but in fact it looks like there’s a lot of undeveloped rural land still.

We also flew over what I assume was the Alps, which was cool, and I could see when we got to the Mediterranean. Our route took us right past the part of Italy where it starts jutting out, so I was able to see that curve and then the long, straight western Italian coastline.

I don’t know exactly what happened in the airport. We followed signs for baggage claim, but we ended up at the wrong one, so a helpful information girl on a scooter told us how to get to where we needed to go, which was to go outside and walk a little ways to terminal 3. We did that, but then we had to go through a security check to get back in. We weren’t the dinky ones, because a French guy in line behind us was going through the same thing. So I don’t know if it’s just set up that way (in which case it’s a very stupid and inefficient system) or if we just missed something.

After that we hopped on a train to Rome, which took about half an hour. There were a few old walls and buildings that we passed on the way in. The hotel wasn’t far so we walked, but that about killed Will, so he was done for the day.

It was around 8:00 by then, and after we all settled in Amanda, Stanton and I went to look for doe authentic Italian food. We found a place from Trip Advisor very close to the hotel. It was down a flight of stairs in a little alley. Stanton got the best lasagna I’ve ever had, Amanda got some pruicietta pizza (good, but similar to a good pizza place back home) and I got some spinach ravioli, which was also very good. Stan’s was easily the best though. Amanda also ordered an appetizer of the pruicietta with the best mozzarella cheese I’ve ever had. We’d wrap the pruicietta around a hunk of cheese… delicious. Stanton also got some tomatoes with the mozzarella. We also enjoyed some wine and desserts.

We walked back to the hotel after chatting a but and took Will some leftover pizza. The timing was perfect because he was on the phone ordering some. Amanda and I hung out there for a bit and made tentative plans for tomorrow before heading on back to our room.

Zach Dotsey
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