Home at last!

Ok, so things aren't exactly going up in the correct order. Weren't we supposed to fill in all the highlights about Rome when we could? Well, getting home was a bit more of a priority. Anyway, since I'm sure you're chomping on the bit, let's fill you in, shall we?

Sure enough, we saw the Colosseum, and paid a chunk extra to get a tour / bypass the line / get a free photo with a "gladiator" package. Really wasn't all that much more, and as a bonus we also got admission and a tour of Palantine Hill. Now, while the Colosseum is a whisp of its former glory, it is still amazing to see it, walk around, and get some history. Some truly gruesome things occurred in that place! Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum was more of a history lesson than anything else, but we did see what is possibly the home of Romulus, dating back to about 800 B.C. Some increible ruins! The rest of the day was just wandering, heading into Trestevere (near the station), and relaxing.

Next was the Vatican - we had heard horror stories about the lineups, some being as long as 3+ hours! Several people we had met in our travels said they had themselves waited for a long time, or had talked to someone who had. What to do? So we decided this was all we were going to do that day, just in case. We get to the Vatican City, and have to go through security. There were a few people in front, but this didn't take very long - through the metal detector, scan our bags, and off you go. Next was purchasing tickets, which was another brief affair, with a mere 2 people to wait behind. So, the question now was - where were the infamous lineups? Guess we got lucky (although, we had heard a comment the day before from a tour guide about how this was a slow travel year, something about the US dollar being low, etc). So the Vatican itself? Huge, interesting collection, but a bit overwhelming! From there we sauntered into St. Peter's which also had a lacklustre lineup. However, this was breathtaking, and well worth the price of admission (which was, well, free!).

Chantelle (who is awesome, thank you!!) had given us a little walking tour, which we took the next day. Starting from the Vatican we wandered neighbourhoods - the east bank of the Tiber down from the Vatican; Trestevere for some awesome pizza, cute boutique shops, and a surprisingly dingy church on the outside with a remarkable mosaic filling (Santa Maria in Trestevere); into the Jewish quarter to look at some weird and whacky architecture (Roman column on your construction site? Incorporate it into your plans!); then on to the Piazza dei Fiori, the Piazza Novona, and The Pantheon. This last building alone was worth the trip to Rome - mind bogglingly beautiful, in wonderful condition (unlike many of the other Roman buildings which have had their marble removed for other projects), and with the sun shining through the hole in the ceiling, well... enough said.

The rest of Rome was just wandering around, seeing this and that, checking out neighbourhoods, eating gelato and going into kebab shops for falafel, and not eating Italian food (a month straight of pizza and pasta had us wanting something different). We had quite a bit of Indian food, as it turns out. We had a small scheduling fubar that had us staying in Rome for a day longer than we expected, which was fine, just another dingy hostel, and another day of beautiful sunshine before heading back to Belfast. When we learned of Zoom Airline's demise, we managed to easily find a return flight, although on the 4th instead of the 1st, and we had to fly out of Dublin instead of Belfast. Still, our travel agent was fantastic in finding us something incredibly cheap. And, if we're lucky, the credit card company will be able to get us some money back, for services not rendered from Zoom (or some such).

Belfast was quiet - they have had a record breaking summer for rainfall, and this trend continued when we got back. We didn't realize how good we had it weather wise until we got back to Ireland. All told, we were rained on twice in our whole trip throughout France, Spain, and Italy. In Belfast, it rained every single day!! We spent more time with Kelly's awesome, amazing, and wholly hospitable family, and even got a chance to meet some of her other cousins that we had not yet gotten a chance to see. We also had a fancy lunch at the Merchant Hotel, and when at Dundrum Castle saw some medieval historian types who let us shoot some arrows on real English longbows! I love Kelly's family, and pretty much every Northern Irish person we met - they're all so NICE!

Our trip home was uneventful, just a looooooooooooong day. We were up at 5:30am, picked up at 6:30am, caught a bus from Belfast to Dublin Airport at 7am, in Dublin Airport at 9:30, checked in and through security, flying by just after 12 noon, then after an hour layover in Montreal, we landed in Toronto at about 3:30pm (which was actually 8:30pm for us) before getting through the terminal and customs and baggage and meeting my mum for a lift home. We got back and settled at home by about 5:00pm (or 10:00pm in Belfast, if you're keeping track). A mere 15 or 16 hour day!

Ok, I think that's it - we're home, we're not yet settled, we have a lot of things to do, and our vacation is over. A little sad about that, but also kind of happy to get the next phase of our life on the go. What will that be? Not a clue... maybe there'll be a blog for that too (but probably not).

Thanks for keeping up, from Kelly and myself!

BTW - we'll have photos online soon, but perhaps not on Blogger. Will advice..