May 11, 2010....Well vacation time is here, I picked up Kendy a little after 6:00pm and we hit the road for Chicago. After being on the road for about 2 hours we realized we were still on I80 and not on I88 - oh well, we'll get there. We checked in to the hotel about 10:00pm after driving around looking for Higgins Road, finally found it and it was actually easier to find than we made it.
May 12, 2010...Great continental breafast this morning....I'm being sarcastic...stale muffins and old doughnuts (hard as a rock), the microwave didn't even bring them back to life. Kendy is starting to get nervous about the flight and trying to come up with ways to take some valium with her to help her sleep during the flights, at least the long ones. She has a variety of ideas on how she can accompolish this, something about tiny balloons and tampons, scraping off the markings to make them look like baby asprin, maybe she can rinse out the little hotel shampoo bottle and liquify them, or mix them in her bag of trail mix.....oh believe me, she had several more ideas. I can't convince her that people often take something to help them relax or even sleep on flights, especially long flights. It's not uncommon. She took one last night to make sure they work. I could've drawn faces on her, she was out!!
Pam called at 11:15am our time to say they were delayed in LA due to storms in Chicago. Storms? What storms? It was cloudy but that was it. While we were talking the captain came on to say they were delaying another hour and not leaving until 11:15am their time, there's no way they'll make our flight. Kendy & I will wait at the airport in Barcelona for them to catch up. Everything will work out fine - this will be a trip to remember!
We're sitting at the airport in Chicago waiting for the flight desk to start checking us in when a lady comes in pushing a stroller with a little kid about 3. All he has on is underwear. She then proceeds to get cloths out of a bag (pj's) and dress him. Once in the terminal we needed to be in we stopped at Wolfgang Puck's for a turkey and avacado sandwich. Kendy had 3 beers and a swig out of her shampoo bottle....must be calming.
Boarded the plane, there are a few empty seats. We are sitting in the middle row with an empty seat by us, we'll use it to stretch out. Kendy decided she wanted to trade sides with me because there are guys on my side. She made friends before the plane even started to roll.
****Brooke****
Flight from LA was delayed 2 hours so we missed out flight to Barcalana. We were placed on a flight to Paris then Barcelona. Our luggage was lost.
May 13, 2010...We had a really good flight. It didn't really seem that long, we had dinner and breakfast so I guess it was. The food was pretty good for being on an airplane. I slept some but not very well, my butt got sore from sitting. I sat on a pillow for a while but it didn't help much. Kendy slept good with a little help from her shampoo bottle. She's made friends iwth 5 or 6 guys across the isle.
Landed in Madrid this morning and had time between flights for Kendy to have a smoke break with her new friends. Now we're sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off for Barcelona. Madrid's airport is very nice! Very pretty and clean! Even the train we rode from terminal to terminal was clean. That was a fun ride. I hope Pam & Brooke got off from Chicago at a decent time and don't have too many lay-overs. Hopefull we don't have trouble hooking up with them in Barcelona. We're starting to roll at 10:05am...that's 3:05 back home. Barcelona airport is very nice, too and very clean, they're always cleaning. It was a short flight, landed about 11:00am. It's now 1:45pm and we're still waiting for Pam & Brooke. It would be nice if we knew what flight they were put on or even what airline. Hopefully it's the one due to land at 2:00, Kendy can hardly keep her eyes open.
It's 3:30pm and Pam & Brooke are finally here!! They ended up flying Air France to Paris then to Barcelona and their luggage got lost somewhere along the way. That was a long 4 plus hours at the airport waiting for them but they're here!!
From the airport we took the Euro Bus into town then the metro (underground) as far as we could and then got on the tram when Pam saw the hotel a few blocks away so we got off and walked there. Checked into our hotel rooms and walked up the block to a convience store for water & snacks. Walking back we noticed a bus out front of the hotel that went from the hotel to the airport. We decided to take that tomorrow. For dinner we walked down around the block to a bar/restaurant - good food - well, except Kendy's choice of "The Undertaker". When she asked the waiter what it was he said it was "from the pig" or pork so it should be good....right??? None of us were quite certain what it was. It looked like a section of intestines cooked to a dark brown, very mushy and she said it taste like blood. Pam tried it but no one ended up eating it.
****Brooke****Day 1 no luggage
Arrived to Barcelona at 3pm. Had to get on the bus, metro then the tram to get to our hotel. Ate at a cute little restaurant. Kendy ordered the "UnderTaker" which we are not to sure what was in that sandwich " mystery meat" if they say is "from the pork" don't order it! LoL My Visa card would not work in Spain. Had to call bank to see what was going on.
May 14, 2010...Everyone slept good last night and got up ready for our trip to the airport to head to Athens. When we got to the airport Pam and Brooke checked to see if their luggage made it, no such luck. Pam wanted to sneak back through the exit doors but Brooke wouldn't with the security guard standing near by. They had to go back through secuirty and that took long enough for Kendy to get a beer. Barcelona airport is so pretty, you get the feeling you're in a huge mall. While we were waiting for our flight to Athens we found out that Pam and Brooke landed in Chicago before our plane took off. They probably could've joined us on that flight. We all fell asleep and slept prety good on the flight to Athens, it left late but we made up time in the air and landed just a few minutes late. Got our bags and Kendy & I started looking for Salvatore from Swift Car Rental....no luck! While trying to figure out how to call the office Kendy and Brooke went back over and found him...whew! He went over the car stuff with us and showed us on the map which way to go to get to Stoupa. He also marked the map for us then we were off on our adventure, 4.5 hour road trip through Greece to Stoupa. The trip was awesome. Every once in a while a car or motorcycle would fly by us, mostly on the left. The highest speed we were to go was 120km, it's funny how the number on the sign or the speedometer makes you feel like you're going fast.
Kalamata is beautiful, right along the coast. It started getting dark as we were going through the village and then the narrow winding road began. Was it ever narrow and winding...and dark!! We made it to Stoupa and managed to get through the narrow streets with all the adjoining streets and found our way down a very skinny road...or maybe it was a pathway...with high stone walls on both sides. This was so skinny we pulled the side mirrors in and at one point Pam reached out like she was pushing the car away from the stone wall. We found the villa so Pam went in to check us in. The owners were surprised we drove down the narrow pathway so he came out to park the car for us and even offered to drive the car in and out for us so we didn't have to worry about it. That was awfully nice and we took him up on it. We only had him pull it out once though, after that we parked down on the main road along the coast. It was only maybe 100' away and much easier to get in and out. After settling in to our room, and Pam & Kendy calling dibs on the loft room, we went for a walk to the main road with the beach on one side and lots of little shops, restaurants, bars, bakeries on the other side. We walked the road making sure to get out of the way when we heard cars or scooters coming up behind us. We picked a nice restaurant to eat at, very friendly staff and good food. Then we roamed the dark streets of Stoupa finding interesting buildings and some very dark, dark roads. We finally went to bed at 2:30am 
****Brooke****
Day 2 no luggage
Raining in Barcelona. Took the city bus to the airport. Still no luggage. Boo! Our flight for Athens left at 11:50am and landed at 3:00pm. Our rent a car person was late so we were freaking out just a bit since we did not know what to do. He ended up coming 30 mins later. We had to ask people in Kalamata where Stoupa was and we made up a joke to ask "Stoupa" while we raised our hands and shrugged our shoulders. We stayed in Stoupa at Villa Kosta apartment. Walked around the village that night which has many wild cats. Met our one eyed cat "Stoupa" which we feed bread to. Met two white ocean ducks that live at the harbor. That night we walked through the town looking for the castle. Never found it that night.
May 15, 2010...Kendy & Pam's door to their balcony slammed hard about 6:00am waking us all up. It was very windy and a little rainy. Kendy and Brooke went for a morning walk, Pam and I decided to take advantage of the quite and sleep a bit more, that is until the door slammed more. I went upstairs to shut it. Did I mention that our room had a loft with a balcony, a little kitchen and veranda? Kendy and Brooke got back from their morning venture and laid back down. We all woke up around 11:30 to start our day. We walked down to the main street again to see it in the day light. This time we walked the other direction and found several markets while exploring the streets more. Then we had lunch at another nice, friendly restaurant. Very good food again and the prices for our meals are a lot cheaper than we expected. Our waiter at this place was very friendly and helpful. He told us of some nice places to visit old ruins, abandoned villages and also "The Gate to Hell" or "Death Oracle" in the southern most tip of Greece. He even brought out a map and pictures to show us some areas. The waiter we had today is a Greek/Canadian. He noticed right away we were North American and said it was unusal as they generally have European tourists. He said Americans usually stay in Athens.
I'm not supposed to talk about the bodily noices coming from a couple people but let's just say, Brooke and I are glad we are sharing a room.
Cats - - there are so many stray cats. They don't bother us unless someone feeds them which we're all guilty of doing. Pam named one of the local cats 'Blind-Eyed Bitch' and we call another one 'Stoupa'. We did find the ruins of Castle Beaufort in Stoupa today. Not much left to see other than ruins. You can see signs of it all over the hillside, from small sections of a stone wall to what's left of some buildings. We hear music tonight off in the distance so Pam and I went for a walk to find out where it was coming from and what it was. There was a band and Greek dancers at one of the restaurants on the hillside.
It was pretty cool seeing authentic Greek dancers. We stopped at the pastry shop on the way back to our hotel. It's a bit cooler and real breezy tonight. Something else I've noticed is the birds sound tropical and sing pretty much from sun up to sun down. The plants and flowers also seem to be tropical and are very pretty, lots of variety. ****Brooke****
Day 3 no luggage
The upstairs door slammed because of the wind. Kendy and I stayed up at 630am and walked the town in search of coffee, which we never found . Met a nice guy at lunch who was our sever, he would say "yes" then sucked his sliva which became a on going joke. He showed us some places to visit while we were here. Our cat "Stupa" found us during lunch. Explored Stupa today and found the castle or should I say it's remians. Kendy was determined to go to the top. There are cats everywhere! So if ur not a cat lover don't go to Greece.
May 16, 2010...Pam's 50th birthday today! Kendy wakes up to find lots of red bites from the ants she decided to nap with 2 days ago. We tried telling her they were crawling all around when she laid down with her blanket but she thought it would be okay, she now knows otherwise. We went exploring today, took a drive south to the very tip of the Peloponnese - to "the Gate to Hell'. Beautiful drive, winding road right along the cliffs of the hillsides. Lots of ruins along the way. We stopped at a couple abandoned villages on the way down and drove through Agios Nicolas. That was one place we'd thought about staying when we were making our vacation plans. We decided to stop there on the way back for lunch. Continuing our drive we ran over a lime green lizard. He was about 12" long and we heard the crunch. After that we saw several large snakes crossing or along the road, one that Pam spotted was huge! The Death Oracle, or 'Gate to Hell' was very interesting and the view are beautiful around it.
We definitely are seeing some sights. Our lunch stop back in Agios Nicolas was at a nice little sea side restaurant with a very friendly owner who originally came from South Africa. He answered a lot of questions we had about things we've seen in Greece. I think he enjoyed visiting with us as much as we enjoyed visiting with him. As we were finishing lunch he brought Pam a small chocolate birthday cake from a local bakery that we all shared, it was very good. 
I made dinner for Pam's birthday. We had pasta, it was so good Kendy ate her's and some of Pam's and then her leftovers from the night before along with a bunch of noodles and anything else she could find. She was hungry. Pam did a reading for Kendy two nights ago and one of the things she told her was that she was going to have trouble with her teeth, mainly her back teeth. Tonight while Kendy was eating some peanuts she started picking at them with a little umbrella toothpick from her sundae and something broke off. She tried to pretend it was the toothpick but then realized it was part of a tooth. She wouldn't leave it alone, she kept messing with it and picking at it more. Pam and I had to scold her to make her stop. We all three told her to leave it alone or she would make it worse.
****Brooke****
Day 4 no luggage
Got going early. Took a 2 hour drive to the southern most point of Europe. That is where the gate to hell is. The water is so blue and crystal clear here, very beautiful. On the way there we drove through Many small villages which all had manis, the big towers had little holes in them so they could stick a gun out of and shot their neighbors when they fought over land. Penny ran over a big bright green lizard :( there are a lot of small animals here including large snakes. We went to Vathia, which is an abandon village. A little black cat followed us through the whole town until we left. We gave her a piece of rice cake. We ate lunch at the small fishing town of Nickolas which is next to Stupa. Our server Gregg was very friendly and answered many of our questions we had about Greece. I have become very fond of the blue parrot at the market. I talk to him at least twice a day. We sat on the beach for a bit then hung out at the room.. Kendy got drunk at the bar and was being silly all night. She chipped her tooth LoL. Bought some desserts at the pastry shop. Yummy :p
May 17, 2010...We all slept good again last night. Kendy woke up with no memory of her tooth - Yea!! On the way back from the Oracle of Death I started having a runny nose, it would not quit. I took Chlor-Trimeton several times but that didn't help. It is still bad today, I have to carry Kleenex every where we go.
Today we went to Kardymil which is another sea side village just north of Stoupa. Beautiful area with nice little shops, everyone bought something on this day trip. In one of the little shops Pam reached under her dress into her bra to get her money and the man at the store said "Nice wallet" with a smile on his face. We walked to the Old Kardymil which was very neat. It looked like an old castle area but it was actually the original town. Lots of little openings in the building walls and outter walls for shooting out of when protecting their land or whatever reason they had at that time. We got back to the villa to find out Pam & Brooke's luggage will be in Agio Nicolas at 7:30 tonight. We will go get their luggage and they will be so happy, especially Brooke. We aren't even half way through our vacation and I've already filled a 4 gig card and about half of another. I better change the formatting on the camera to reduce the size or I'll have to get more cards. We sat on the beach for a while yesterday afternoon. It was so peaceful. That's one thing we've learned about the Greek culture, they are very laid back, at least in the small villages. It's nice.****Brooke****
Day 5 no luggage
Everyone slept in today until 9:45. We decided to go to the other little village next to us called Kardamili. We went to their old part of town which had an old adandon village and church. We have been seeing a lot of little animals like lizards, butter flyies, large ants and spiders. The people here drive so crazy! Because of this there are many memorial boxes on the side of the main road. This is where someone's soul left their body. People like to walk on the main road and won't move over for you. We ate lunch at our town and not only did "Stupa, the cat" find us but two of her friends found us as well. I feed them some of my pork chop. So our bags will be in tonight at 7:30pm yea!We got to the bus at 7:32pm and our bags were the last two on the bus. We bearly made it :z decided to eat at the first resturant we ate at the first night. Since our hotel owner helped us so much with our bags we bought them mini cakes and had our photos taken with them.
May 18, 2010...Up and on the road by 6:18am heading for Athens. Of course that means we ll packed last night - well, everyone but Kendy...she was carrying all kinds of things that she didn't get put in her suitcase. We hated to leave Stoupa. I'm glad we got pictures with the hotel owners, Angela and Hristos (Christos) last night. I'm sure they'll enjoy the little cakes we bought for them at one of the local pastry shops, it is an awesome pastry shop. I think we suprised them both with the pastries and with the request to take pictures with them. They were very nice hosts and we would all recommend them to others. I hope to go back and visit them again sometime and stay a few days. 
Today, May 18th, is International Monuments Day in Greece. Which means all museums and archaeolgical sites are free. 
We went to Ancient Agola and saw 2 large box turtles. Saw the hill of the Nymphs and ate at a roof top garden. We sure have walked a lot in the last 5 days. We are all feeling it in our calves, thighs and butts. It's not wonder we're sleeping good at night. Our room looks like they figured out a way to stick 4 single beds in a room that was made for maybe one double. One blocks the way to the door to the room and the balcony doors and it's kind of a jump to get over it to get to the hallway door. I feel like I could lay down and sleep. It's 6:45pm so it might be an early night. We have to get up early in the morning tomorrow to jump on the metro by 7:00am and head for the airport for our flight to Rome. That ride will consist of changing trains and will take about an hour. Our flight to Rome leaves at 8:55am so we'll be getting up at 5:30am. Our evening in Athens was uneventful. After we got back to the hotel Pam, Brooke and I walked around the corner to McDonald's - they have beer and Kendy isn't here to get any. Kendy, Brooke and I went down to the 'computer room', making sure to clear all history when we were done. ****Brooke****
Woke up at 5:30AM to get going. Time for Athens. It started raining and I saw a rainbow in Katamala while at the donut shop. Felt car sick the whole way to Athens . Ugh! Athena is very dirty! And the drivers in the city are even more nuts and crazy. We could not find the rent a car place so we had to ask for directions that is when Penny said "fuck" :0 Salvator took us to our hotel which is really scary.. But we have a nice balcony. we went to Acropolis which was so neat! Athens is the city of dogs! There were even dogs in the Acropolis. We also saw Temple of Olympian Zues, Harian's Arch which divided old Greece from new Greece, satutes of gods and goddess, Temple of Athena Nike, Ancient Agora, Propylaia, Parthenon, Erechtheion, Theather of Herodes Atticus and Dionysos. There were side streets where we did a little shopping and ate at a cute restaurant. The only channel in English was CNN news so we had to watch the negative news. Mom, Penny and I decided to go get some McDonald's
May 19, 2010...Up at 5:30am - no one slept very good but that's not slowing us down. Up and out, on our way to the metro by 6:00am. We took the metro all the way to the airport. We hesitated a bit before getting on and had to hurry. Kendy barely got in and Brooke got her arm in, Kendy pushed her butt through the opening to try and keep it open for Brooke. The door closed to about 12" when Brooke said "Mom, I'm not going to make it" with such a worried look on her face then all of a sudden the doors came open. After she got on the train we realized there was a door release button that someone (we think it was a man) pushed to help us out. We'll laugh about this later but right now it was kind of scary. Check in at the airport went smoothly. Our flight to Rome will be on a newer Aegeon Airlines plane, nice and spacious with comfy seats. Nice flight to Rome, it wasn't real long but we all tried to rest. Pam was sitting on the isle and every time she dozed her left leg would lean in the isle a bit, she got hit by the cart 3 times! The last one sounded like a hard one. It was so loud it made me jump.
The Rome airport is dirty. We got on the train to head toward the hotel - 8 Euros - the train is nice and clean and very spacious. Every once in awhile Pam will start laughing, she's thinking about this hotel adventure, should we be nervous??? So far all we have went past is countryside and apartment type buildings. Some look like projects and lots of graffiti on everything. Time to get off the train and on the bus the rest of the way to the hotel. While on the bus we met a family who has been staing at the hotel. That helped us know where to get off the bus. This hotel is right by the highway and train tracks across the highway. We got off the bus at the stop with the walking bridge over the road. I wouldn't say it's a nice first impression, the steps going up were littered with trash and used condoms. The only way to leave here is on the bus, no way to walk around exploring. We refreshed a bit then hopped on the bus going the direction we were going when we got here. We ended up finding out we didn't need to, the bus got up to the turn-around spot and the driver pulled over, parked, finished his lunch, read the paper, got off and walked around, talked on the phone and didn't start back up until the next bus pulled up. It was probably 15-20 minutes. Heading back toward town is when we found out there is a bus stop on the hotel side of the highway, we don't have to get on and ride to the turn around. I asked the driver, who didn't appear to understand or speak English, if the bus went to the center of town. As we were getting close to a stop he motioned for me to come up to his area...which is enclosed...he told me the best he could that we needed to get off at the next stop, go to the 2nd corner, turn right and wiat for the 80 bus to the center. We did it! Walked around a little, stopped at the Trevi Fountain to toss coins over our shoulders, stopped to eat...not too impressed with any of the choices, plus the prices ar a lot higher than they were in Greece. Kendy had a pasta dish that her and Pam decided tasted like Ragu. We left there to look in some shops and stopped for some Gelato - Italian ice cream - as we sat down outside to eat it the rain started and then it came down harder and the thunder and lightening started. Pam and Kendy each bought an umbrella from one of the street vendors. I figured we were going to get wet anyway so didn't bother. When it 'appeared' to lighten up Brooke and I took off for the central bus stop, we thought Pam and Kendy were following. Brooke was carrying my camera under her hoody and the umbrella. We got to the stop and stood along a building waiting for Pam and Kendy. They came around a corner running for the bus, we all got on and headed to our next bus. When we got off the bus we saw a little market and decided to buy some food and drink to take back to our hotel. Pam, Brooke and I each bought a large bottle of water which we later found out was sparkling or soda water. I'm not sure how much will get drank since that wasn't what we were wanting. We got on the bus back to the hotel, the ride back didn't seem very long. A lot of people got off the bus at our bus stop, all going to the hotel. We hurried so we could get to the elevator first! Pam, Kendy and I went exploring the hotel to look for the roof balcony that was advertised. Didn't find a balcony but we did find a cabinet with a few clean blankets, a few pillows and lots of towels. We brought the blankets to our room and later went back up to see if there was another and brought back a couple pillows.
We stopped at the little market again today before getting on the 135 and heading back to the hotel. The guy was not happy that I gave him €50 and he had to break it. I'm not sure who was worse, him or the lady the day before when Pam had to give her €50. We'll try a different market tomorrow. Second day trying to buy water and again we get soda water - everyone but Pam that is. Today she got lucky and got a bottle of plain water. We walked a lot today and didn't head back to the hotel until about 5:00pm. When we got back our room had been cleaned and left unlocked. Thankfully nothing was messed with. I wonder what went through their minds when they came in and saw Pam's shirt, undies and a plastic bag hanging from the chandelier. Tomorrow we'll head to the seaside village of Lido di Ostia or maybe Lido di Ostia Antica.
Kendy is drunk again. She drank her box of wine, part of Pam's and went down to get me some ice where she ended up getting 3 free glasses of wine from the bartender. She must have drank them rather fast since it didn't seem like she was gone all that long. Now she went down to have a smoke with him. I thought about going down to get on the lobby computer but I already have my jammies on.
May 21, 2010...Kendy has a huge hangover this morning...Oh well, that's what happens. :)
We ended up riding through the village and decided to head back to Rome. Kendy had to stop to poo & puke before we got on the train. She came out looking for toilet paper and settled for a cleaning rag off a cart...eewgh! She wasn't feeling up to Rome again so we told her how to get back to the hotel and left her and got on the metro.
*Kendy's adventure - she got to the terminal for the bus, found the bus and got on only to sit. As she was sitting she thought she was going to need the bathroom again. The bus finally pulled out and she was headed for the hotel. She was getting excited as she saw the stop getting closer and then the bus passed it by without stopping! She didn't push the button since the bus has always stopped at that stop. She had to ride to the turnaround point and sit by herself while the driver took his lunch break.
*Us - we got off the metro at the Colleiseum, hit a couple shops, ate lunch and got on the 80. There's the guy in the purple shirt again, he stares at everyone...even men. When we got off the 80 this time we walked through that part of town and stopped at a different market. We all got a bottle of regular water this time. We headed back to the hotel on the 135 with the intention of jumping on it later and going the other direction to find a restaurant for dinner. Once back at the hotel the room felt oddly warm, almost like a steam bath and when Pam went in the bathroom she noticed it was wet, all over. When asked Kendy said she took a hot shower. We all laid around for a while and listened to Kendy tell us her adventure after we left her at the train station. Brooke decided not to go for dinner so Pam & I decided we would. We went over the bridge to the bus stop and noticed a prostitute on the other side again. She was doing her little walk and keeping her eye on us. That's when Pam and I figured out that was why all the condoms were all over the steps of the bridge at the bus stop. We had seen what we thought was a prostititue the first day but since it was in the morning we weren't sure. This time it was very obvious, high heels, leggings with shorts over them (?), strutting her stuff back and forth watching for cars to pull over...and she was keeping her eye on us. As we waited for the bus...the one that never came...we decided she was in a spot so that people coming toward her could see her, take the exit, go over the highway and come back down to where she was at. We also found out they stop at the bus stop where we were waiting. Before too long a vehicle pulled up to the curb in front of us - Pam stepped off the curb to the car and said "Hello" the guy said something to her in Italian and she said "I don't speak English". He said something else in Italian and she said "I mean, I don't speak Italian". She then kind of laughed and said "I don't know what we're doing" as she shrugged her shoulders and stepped away laughing. That's when she realized he was trying to pick her up! We noticed the prostitute was paying a lot of attention to what was going on over on our side of the highway. We had a few more honks as they were going by and another slow down and decided we'd waited for the bus long enough, if it didn't come in 10 minutes we were leaving. Before long we saw a vehicle stop for the prostitute - she'd taken her shorts off after the car stopped on our side - she went up to his window then as she was going around the car to get in the other side she looked over at us. We should've waved at her. At that point we decided to head back to the hotel but before we could another car pulled up, we just about ran into each other scrambling for the stairs. We're still not sure why no bus came by. We seem to be going to bed earlier here, usually asleep or almost asleep by 10:00pm. That must be why we're up and getting ready to start our days around 7:00am
May 22, 2010...about ready to head in town for the double decker bus tour. Four days in Rome is definitely too much, two would've been plenty. We hopped on a double decker to ride and tour Rome. We are seeing more sights and some pretty areas. We got off at the Vatican City, took a few pictures then decided to get lunch. A little old man approached Pam to promote a restaurant. She talked to him so he started leading us, he even held Pam's hand along the way. We got to the restaurant and she felt like we needed to stay so we sat down. First real mistake, they were over priced on things, didn't replace Kendy's Diet Coke when the table tipped over because it wasn't placed right and when the bill came it was €80.20!! They charged us €9.20 for tax (there is no tax) and €10 for a tip! We had some words with them and told them we were going to tell people. They really didn't like it that I kept the receipt. The owner chased us down the street and stopped Kendy. We're pretty sure it was because she was worried we'd find police or someone to report them.
We found a nice little shop to purchase some things then hopped back on the bus. We decided to ride the route again to see if we missed anything. When we got back to the hotel tonight we talked Kendy into going to the bus stop with us so we could prove it was a prostitute stop. She even wore her pj bottoms! We barely got to the stairs to go up over the highway and a car pulled in then two scooters, one was a pizza delivery boy!! We were laughing so hard and Pam forgot to go to the bathroom before we headed out. All of a sudden she ran into the bushes pulling her dress up and peed. Oh my gosh! I thought I was going to lose it! We headed back to the hotel laughing all the way. We're trying to stay up later to see if we might be able to sleep in a bit in the morning.
May 23, 2010...No such luck on staying up late to sleep in. We were all up and getting ready by 7:30am again. Today we rode the 135 to the metro station and hopped on going north to look for a small village. We got off at a village to hop on the bus, still going north. It took a long time for the bus we were looking for to get there, we came to realize buses are on limited schedules on Sundays as well as shops and stores being closed. The first bus we decided to get on took us out a little ways then was circling back so we hopped off to try a different bus. It took us to a little village but there was nothing out there so we stayed on to head back. I think we're all getting tired of trying to find things to do here, 5 days in Rome was 3 too many. On the way back to the Metro station we decided to get off at a stop close to a McDonalds...bathrooms and food! We rode the bus back to Rebibbia and got on the metro and rode to the other end, Laurentina. We got off the metro to see what was there then got back on again. I'm not real sure what we're doing next. I do know we've been in the Rome area too long. There's not enough to do to keep us busy and we're starting to get on each other's nerves a bit. Everyone is getting a little testy. It's amazing, all the little vendors at the bus stop and train stations are Indian, we've noticed the beggars on the metro and the women praying on the walks are as well.
Kendy and Brooke got off the bus at the hotel, Pam and I decided to ride to the turn-around to see if any markets or restaurants were open since it appears our options are pretty limited for our last night in Rome. No luck here, sitting at the turn-around while the driver takes his break. There's an older man and a couple highschool boys waiting as well. The boys must've thought they were going to get lucky. They were at the front of the bus all the way here and we were at the back. While sitting and waiting they moved to the back oto sit close to us. We got off the bus for a while and so did they. When we got back on we sat in different seats so they sat behind us. Foolish little boys :) We all ended up riding into Rome on the 135 about 7:00-7:30 to look for some place open to eat, we found a restaurant on our way back out. I wasn't real hungry and thought about not getting anything but wasn't sure when we'd eat again so I got a calzone, not a good choice. It was huge, dry and only had cheese inside, no sauce. Pam got the same thing and picked hers apart, Brooke and Kendy got pasta. I brought half of it back to the hotel for the cats. We did get Gelato one more time while in Italy, I wish that was all I'd gotten, yuck, I feel bloated from what I eat of the calzone. We rode back out to the hotel and everyone rearranged their bags and packed...everyone but Kendy. Pam pointed out to her that she left some things out, Kendy said it was to decide on in the morning. We decided to set the alarm for 6:00 am in hopes to be out of the hotel by 7:00am, everyone was getting comfy and ready to sleep by 10:00ish.
May 24, 2010....I started waking up sometime after 4:00am and ended up getting up at 5:00 to see what time it was and go to the bathroom. Pam was awake so she got up and hopped in the shower. Kendy woke up shortly after then Pam woke Brooke up. We were on the bus leaving the hotel at 6:30am, got our tickets even though we didn't need to. We got to the train station and bought our tickets - didn't need those either, no one took them this time. We had a good start so we had plenty of time at the airport. Everyone grabbed something to eat & drink after going through security since we knew this flight was going to be one that charged for food and drink - Kendy got a couple beers. This flight to Barcelona is full! Brooke & I are in 20E & 20F, Pam & Kendy are in 23E & 23F and we can hear them talking and laughing. I'm sure there are some beautiful areas in Italy but right now I really have no desire to go back to Rome. Next visit I'd like to go to Cinque Terra or some other small villages. People in Rome are not very friendly for most part, not like they were in Greece.
We landed in Barcelona and decided to take the train in town instead of the bus, the train is cheaper than the bus. An old man by the ticket machines offered to help and took Kendy's money to get all 4 tickets, as he gave her the ticket and started handing her the change we caught him pocketing some. She called him on it but he just shrugged her off and led us to the ticket gate. We rode the train to the end which was too far, we should've gotten off at B.P. Garcia to get the metro to Maria Christina.
We caught the 518 bus to head out to Cabrera, a little old village northwest of Barcelona, up on the hillside. Shortly after getting on the bus we started hearing a distinct ringtone and were wondering why no one was answering their phone. This went on several times and we thought maybe it was the older gentleman in the seats in front of Pam, maybe he couldn't hear it. After a few more times I happened to notice what looked like a phone between the seats where Pam was sitting, sure enough, that was the phone that was ringing. She took it up to the driver but he didn't understand what she was trying to do or say so she came back with it. I asked the lady across from me if she could answer the phone but she was unsure what I was asking her to do. The next time it rang I answered it, in my very minimal....very minimal, Spanish language I was able to let the person on the other end know that we'd found his phone and where we were headed so that he could pick it up. He was able to understand and speak a little English but he tried saying more to me in Spanish so I just shut the phone off. We finally made it to the hotel.When Pam was checking in I took the phone to the desk clerk and he said that the man had just called asking if we'd checked in yet and left his phone number to be called when his phone was there.
We should all sleep good tonight, there's a nice breeze. I called dibs on the beds in the bedroom for Brooke & I, Pam & Kendy get the pull out. Pam told us the spirit of an old lady named Isabella Mercotta lives in the hotel and that she doesn't go up past the 3rd floor. Those familiar noices are coming from the other room again, it's Pam.
We got off the bus at Maria Christina and got on the metro, we weren't heading in the right direction so we got off at the next stop and got on the one going the other way. Turns out we were going the right direction the first time, we had to buy another ticket. These turnstyles are opposite the ones in Rome and Kendy couldn't get through. Pam started turning another one to show her which ended up locking it. I told her to go to the both and tell them instead of buying another ticket, they let her through. When the train pulled up and we started to get on Pam didn't know to turn the handle to open the door so she went to another door, we got in :)
We ate breakfast at a nice little restaurant and then went to get on a double decker bus. This one had 2 routes and you could ride both with one ticket. We also got €3 off each ticket with our boarding passes from the flight from Rome. Kendy & Brooke's side of the bus got mooned by a couple guys standing in a doorway, Brooke smiled and Kendy cheered.
Part way through the route, around stop 9 or 10, Kendy asked about the Ice Bar and was told it was by stop 6. We decided to finish the route then get on the Orange route to get close to the area and walk. Before getting on that bus we got off for lunch at McDonald's. When we got off the orange route by the harbor Pam & Kendy thought it would be quicker to hop on the community bicycles. Only thing is we couldn't figure out how to get them loose, we ended up finding out that people pay a monthly fee to have access. We ended up walking the direction, which was quite a ways, and finally found the bar only to find out it cost €15 to go inside. That included one drink but since Brooke & I weren't worried about a drink we choose to wait outside. Pam & Kendy did think it was cool and they each brought their 'ice' glass out to show us, Kendy ate part of hers.
I'm am amazed at how clean the beaches are and that there are people always walking around picking up any trash that might be loose. Pam started getting nervous about time and worried we'd miss the last 518 back to Cabrera. For some reason she had it in her head that the last bus going to the hotel was at 8:00pm, we got back on the double decker bus at 5:30pm only to find out going that way there was still a long route left, 15 more stops plus traffic was heavier by this time. When it got to be about 6:30pm Pam said she was stressing. She had already told everyone we didn't have time to get off at any stops. We got to the next to the last stop about 7:30 and got on the metro shortly after to head to the Maria Christina station. If we would have gotten off the bus a few stops earlier we would've been there already. Pam almost ran up the stairs and to the bus stop, we all walked. As we stood and waited for the bus she became convinced we'd missed the last bus and that we were going to have to take a taxi. She was starting to make Kendy nervous, Brooke and I quietly waited until the bus came. Once on the bus the mood got lighter and the laughter and joking was back.
We got back to Cabrera after 8:00 and couldn't find a restaurant open other than the one in the hotel. It is quite a bit more expensive but we had no other choice except a couple bar type places filled with men playing Backgammon. We all ordered food, they all got the same thing...chicken. The meals were good. Pam decided to get a dessert for my birthday and asked the waiter & desk clerk if any were cake. The desk clerk got excited and said to wait and went off. He came back with a frozen log of rolled cake filled with a whipped cream and covered with some type of glaze. It had a candle in it and they were singing "Happy Birthday" we all ate some - there was a lot. As we were leaving the desk clerk said he needed to add the cake to the bill, we had thought it was on the house. Turns out he added €25!!! We decided maybe we should talk to the lady in the morning and suggest that he not assume that people just want something like that.
May 26, 2010...Last day in Barcellona. It's a bright, sunny day and it's going to be warm. It's 8:00am and everyone else is still sleeping. We stayed up a lot later yesterday. Pam and I both woke up at 5:00am to try and get a sunrise picture. Kendy woke up for a minute or two but we all laid back down. I didn't think I was going to fall back to sleep but I did. Traffic is picking up in this little village. It is surprising the amount of traffic for such a small village on the winding road of the hillside. Several of the roads are one lane either going up or down. Yesterday morning we passed an accident, the car was , heading down and was either going too fast for the curve or lost their brakes and hit a tree head on - the airbags deployed. Coming back we saw a car hanging off one of the drop offs. Not sure how she did it but the lady had gotten out of the car. We couldn't figure out how it was hanging there unless it was stuck on something. I think today is going to be spent in this village or the one below. I wouldn't mind just being lazy and hanging out at the hotel, maybe walk around the village a bit. There is some type of castle close to the hotel we could check out. We walked downtown, it was quite a walk going down steep streets and steps, winding back and forth. Kendy didn't like the walk down and kept saying she's hungry, wait until we start heading back up. :) We couldn't find a restaurant open so we stopped at a pastry shop and each got some type of doughnut. They were very good. We started the walk back up looking for shops to stop in. Everyone found something they wanted except me. I think I'm done shopping. The walk back up the hillside just about killed Kendy. Her and Pam had to stop often for breaks, especially going up the long staircase. We made it back to the hotel and decided to change and go down to the pool for a while. The water was a bit chilly but it was nice and refreshing. It was relaxing laying by the pool and from what we could tell we were the only four that had used it while we were staying there. I had washed a couple things and had a top hanging over the balcony railing to dry, I thought it blew off to the lower balcony so I went to look for it and got to the room just as Kendy was about ready to yell down, the top was on our balcony. Pam & Brooke came up and we decided to walk down to Ramone's for lunch. Nothing really sounded good so I just got a Diet Coke. When everyone was done with lunch we walked up the hill looking for the castle. We found so much more to explore and went hiking up the hillside. There was a very old deserted village with horse stables in the hillside, a fire pit area for hanging a huge crock, wooden bridges going from one hillside to the other and rails, steps in the stone and a huge boulder. I propped and set the camera and we took a few pictures of us all. During our walk back to the hotel we found a nice little grocery, it wasn't open yet but we decided to go back later. Brooke decided to stay in 
May 27, 2010...I got up about 5:00am to go to the bathroom, as I was walking through the door into their room I saw Pam roll over. I thought she might ask what time it was but instead she jumoed to a sitting position and let out a haunting scream, "woo-ahhh-ahhha-ahhh". Kendy jumped up saying "What?!! What's wrong?" Then we cracked up laughing. Pam thought I was Isabella. She said she'd had a dream that she was there and rolled over and saw me walking through the room. We got up at 5:30 and started getting ready to leave. The night before we decided to get a taxi to the airport to save time and the hassle of hauling our luggage from bus to metro to train. It was worth it. We were at the airport in about 1/2 hr, checked in and went to our gate. The gate got moved and this flight was 45 minutes late taking off. We landed in Madrid about 10:30 am, our connecting flight was scheduled to leave at noon so we headed for the terminal. Pam & Brooke got something to eat at the snack bar then we headed for our gate. On the way we saw that boarding started at 10:55am. When we got to the plane we knew why...big plane with lots of people. It's a nice, newer plane, even has head rests on each seat. Our take off was delayed 25 minutes but we didn't take off unitl about 12:45. It was pretty cool though, the plane has a camera on the tail which shows the plane. A bug landed on the screen as we were sitting there waiting for take-off. It looked like a big monster bug attacking the plane. Then we watched the plane back up and taxi and then take off and fly for about 10 minutes or so. That was really cool. The meal wasn't too great on this flight but okay. Everyone got the beef burger but me, I got pasta. This flight has been the bumpiest one of all of them. It seems strange that it would be bumpy since we are flying at almost 31,000 feet. We landed in Chicago and after going through customs Pam & Brooke had to go one way toward their next flight as Kendy and I headed out to call the hotel to come pick us up. We got to the hotel, got in the truck and then headed for home. Getting out of Chicago was a little tricky since it was dark when we found the hotel, a little different in day light but we found our way to the highway and headed for I80. Driving home wasn't too bad but the closer we were getting to the Quad Cities the more tired we were getting. I dropped Kendy off at her car which was parked at the Ramada/Days Inn where she works then headed the rest of the way home. That was the longest drive and I was headed straight into the sun. I stopped around the Walcot area to get a pop then kept going west. Iowa City! Yeah, I'm almost home!
It's funny, as tired as I was at this point when I got home I couldn't stop rammbling about the trip. It was an awesome trip! I won't say a "trip of a lifetime" because I intend to go again!! =)
