Europe Journal One

I am hesitant to write a journal entry for our trip. Doesn't it seem like ha, I'm in Europe! ? But, it is such great format to journal quick thoughts. The flight was much less painful than I expected. Of course I had scenes where someone asked my daughter to stop kicking her seat, yes my kids fought on the plane, yes we had some crying and yes my youngest screamed randomly for fun. But, really, it was much better than I imagined. However, we were heading into the night. The direct day flight home will be BAD. The kids handled the loss of sleep better than I thought. We arrived to my brother's family. Such a nice transition. All of the cousins were welcoming. Instead of funky place where they didn't feel comfortable, the kids had friends and toys.

We did wander Munich the next day. We kept it simple. Of course, we had lunch at a bier garten. I ordered some dishes, with the typical not super friendly german. He asked if I ordered 7 things, I said yes. However, I meant sides, he meant the extra 2 meat dishes I did not order. Yes, we were over-charged, yes I was frustrated and no I did not win that argument. The oopma band was what it should be: lederhosen, boompa sound and mustaches. We moved on to fun. We wandered enjoyed and played in a cool city fountain.

The next morning Paul and I flew to Rome. We left the kids for a small anniversary break. We have seen the most typical of places the colosseum, forum, Vatican, piazzas and so forth. Yet, every corner you turn the is something amazing and old. We would wander and discover some church in a corner with giant heroic statues all over it. We would come out of subway stops and see a ruin. We felt uninformed and amused by the prevalence of history about it. Our math/science educations did us no credit. After a while, we would laugh point and say there is a thing. We ate gelato by Trevi fountain and had a great time.

The gallery borghese was amazing. We couldn't take pictures. Google it if you want. The Vatican was so full of stunning art, sculptures that one can become overwhelmed. I did keep hoping we could have a tour of the "secret" rooms. It just seemed to be a place with lots of hidden things. What did I noticed about the people of Rome? Their kids run away from them in public, their kids act up too, kids don't need a kid menu--just order pizza. Men REALLY do carry European carry alls. We saw many of them. We couldn't stop taking pictures. Some younger men carried ones with designer logos! Women are wearing harem pants--just so you know. More women shave here than they used to in Europe. However, before I mourn that, there are still plenty of body fragrant people on the subway.