Home again, home again, giggidy gig

We finally made it home and I wanted to finish all my posting when I got home because it was so expensive to stay on the Internet....they charged 18 cents a minute.

As funny now when we were on our way to Italy, it was just as bad coming home....in fact, Chris and I as soon as we arrived couldn't stop thinking about the day that we would have to leave after the horrible experience getting there. So we decided to get an early start....we mapped out our course and walked it three times, timing it and making sure that we could get there in plenty of time to catch the train because our flight left at 6am in the morning....so the day after Rome, we had gotten in so late and we slept till late in the afternoon and then we were up for the count after 4pm, we did a little window shopping, went to eat gelatto as we did everyday and then more window shopping and off to eat supper and home to pack, we were both so homesick that we wanted an early start.

So the time came, we were all packed and believe me, I stuffed everything into two bags instead of having 4 of them, it was 1 o'clock in the morning when we set off, we didn't care how long we had to wait at the train station....as we were walking, a car stopped twice and just stared at us and Chris and I had prayed that God would protect us, we were in a high crime area....anyway, we didn't know what he wanted, he just stopped where we were and just stared but later moved on, Praise the Lord. Chris and I had to go down and up a tunnel that went under the train station, the one that we couldn't find the night we arrived....anyway, they had a middle section that was for rolling your luggage down it or bicycles, whatever, that is what I slipped on in my sandals and broke the other toe nail, I even took a picture of it along with the nail but you will be glad to know that I accidentally erased it.

Back to the story, we were almost up the end of the tunnel when we heard a gang coming through and they were loud, laughing at us and pointing, and we hauled butt up the stairs just in the nick of time before they came out practically in the midst of a crowd of people. We made it to the station and it was practically empty, very scary and creepy....we had several people come up to us and asking for money, saying things we clearly did not understand....we had to wait almost 2 hours before the next train....there were no trains coming in so the same people kept sticking around and it was really scary....Chris and I just kept praying that God would keep us safe....anyway, we set there and while we were there, lots of men and women were yelling and screaming at each other, I think when Italians fight, they get very loud....there were two couple that came up with about 10 garbage bags of clothes plus two huge suitcases....the lady saw us freezing and shaking and basically was asking us why we didn't have coats, we gathered this through the sign language, we couldn't communicate, we finally got that she was Romanian and her husband was so drunk, we weren't sure how he made it up the steps 50 times carrying up those bags of clothes, he looked like he was being abusive to his wife or we assumed that it was his wife, but that may be their custom, who knows.

Chris and I had two choices, to take the sleeper train that we knew we wouldn't have any room, or take the next one and push getting to the airport on time, we chose the first one....well, the train arrives and I am frantically stuffing my things in, Chris is next and goes to the left and I am thinking I will move my stuff as soon as he is in....all the Romanians (there were two couples) went ahead and didn't let me move but they frantically put all of their things straight in on mine, the door was blocked and I couldn't see or get to Chris, I was stuck in a corner with my luggage and had no room at all to move around and it would be a little over an hour ride and still cold because I am in the middle of the port where you get on before you walk into the sleeper doors....they didn't move anything and they set their things on top of mine as well as my feet....I tried to move it but they wouldn't let me, so I set on my suitcase and took out a book and tried to read, as they fought, yelled or maybe they were love talking, who knows....one of the men were trying to tell me that he was Romanian, I had gotten that part, but he was trying to tell me something about 3 and I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me and he was drunk and getting very upset at me....started praying again for God to protect me, somehow the two men made it past the door that barely opened and I prayed that God would protect Chris, I had no idea what was going on his side.

Finally a little peace and I could read my book without distractions and not having to read the same sentence over 20 times before it sank in....until the Romanian woman fell asleep and started snoring so loudly, I was surprised that it didn't stop the train.

We finally made it to the train station and got off, the next thing we did was get everything off by the grace of God and started trying to find a cab....many went by and wouldn't help us because we had too much stuff....after waiting and waiting and waiting, a precious cab driver drove up and we asked him if he could get it all in, he shrugged his shoulders and basically said he would try without saying a word, his English wasn't go good, and he stuffed it all in and we made it on time to the airport....we got through customs and baggage x-raying things without having to take our shoes off, and we were off to find our terminal....we waited and waited and waited again and then they announced that everyone had to remove the waiting area and that we would have to all stand in line again and show our passports again for some reason, we got up to the front and they handed us forms that we had to fill out saying that if our flight went down, we had to list contact people and put it all in a drop box, not a very comforting thing to fill out before we leave and to me, there were all kinds of suspicious people around....we finally get on the plane and we have great seats, no one is in front of us and we had plenty of leg room and can sleep soundly, problem is, we are so tired that we can't sleep....so I finally get to sleep and all of a sudden, we hear this man across from us that snored so loud that no one could sleep, at least he could.

We made it home and literally wanted to kiss the U.S.A. ground, made it home late last night and rested all day today....I won a pair of shoes on ebay and that is about all that I did....it was fun or rather okay and if I had another chance to go back to Italy, not so sure that I would go, for at least now, I wouldn't anyway.....maybe in a few years if I could take all of my kids and several friends with me....it is just not the same without family and friends and going to a foreign country, you really appreciate your friends and family and especially your country. So hopefully, I can catch up on all your blogs and comment as well....by the way, just made three blogs today about Florence and Rome....we took so many pictures it was hard to pick what to upload....I think all together we took over 1000+ (correction) pictures.

By the way, the next World Championship Duathlon's are in Charlotte North Carolina in the United States.....so it should be easier if Chris qualifies and I can meet a few blogging buddies while I am there. Glad to be home safe and sound and sleeping in my own bed again.