When in Rome

First off, I apologize for my last entry - it definitely lacked the stories I should have added and was a bit boring. I will try to keep you all better entertained as our trip progresses.

So you know something is wrong when I pop up out of bed before Katie. Even though I was exhausted last night, I still found myself awake at one a.m. I guess that is just my true nature, with little to no sleep or not.

I would have to say that day #2 has already started off much better than day #1. We got more than a few hours of sleep AND were able to lay down while sleeping. Double bonus! Our room reminds me of summer camp (true summer camp, not Catchfly Cove). There are 10 beds in all and lockers to put away your stuff. We also have a curfew (3 a.m.) and community bathrooms. I bet my family would be shocked to hear this, but yes, I did shower in the community bath. Very quickly, but it did happen. There are separate stalls with curtains, but the window in the bathroom is kept wide open and all you can hear are loud Italian men right below it.

Today we are heading out to Vatican City. I think I have figured out the bus system better after doing some Rick Steeves studying last night, so that should save us some mileage if all goes as planned... which we have figured out already, is kind of pointless to have a "plan" when traveling somewhere for the first time. We are learning as we go along, but it is all part of the experience.

peace,
tracy

Ciao

Today we tried hard to not to be the ugly Americans - but the Italians were uglier than we could have been when when the luggage did not arrive after an hour being at luggage claim. Anyway, the bags finally came after one skinny "Italiana" began to climb through the conveyor belt. I feel very holy after I saw my bed in the converted convent. I saw a lot of great sites: Teatro de Marcello, Trevi Fountain, and Piazza Navona.

love,
katie

p.s. pics to come as we figure out how to translate the usb italian instructions.

We made it!

Yes, we made it alive to Roma. It was somewhat of an adventure getting here, but it was a success. It is now the end of our first full day in Italy, and we are exhausted... from lack of sleep and from wandering around the city and getting lost. Let's just say that the two of us are directionally challenged AND that this city is so big and confusing. We must have walked many miles more than we had to just trying to find our way to things. The bus and metro system here are very confusing, and it doesn't help that their maps aren't the most detailed.

Nevertheless, we still had a good day and just got in more exercise. :) We decided not to take in too many sites, so we basically just wandered around the city. We walked to the Trevi Fountain and passed many historical monuments along the way. Tomorrow the plan is to head to the Vatican and then do the Colosseum area on Thursday.

Rome has definitely been exciting so far - people and mopeds everywhere. Katie booked us a cool international women's hostel in a locals only area. We haven't quite adjusted to their hours yet though. As we were coming back dragging from our day long excursion, all of the locals were just sitting down to dinner at 10 o'clock.

I could definitely get used to this lifestyle.

ciao,
tracy

How It All Began

So I thought I would shed some light on the meaning behind "Team Europe 2007." Last week we had a game night where Team Europe dominated all the competition.

Here is Team Europe celebrating our win in Cranium, thanks to Katie's acting and singing skills.

Testing, testing...

So we thought this would be a fun way to keep all of our VIPs updated with our Europe happenings as we travel our way through Italy and then on to Paris. We will do our best to update in each city and to post pictures and perhaps videos too. Please check back frequently as our trip is only two weeks long, and we know you don't want to miss the latest news! ;)

Here is our Team Europe 2007 trip itinerary:

30/07/07 (gotta start writing like the Europeans): Depart Houston for Rome - ciao Italy!

31/07/07 - 02/08/07 - Rome

03/08/07 - Siena

04/08/07 - 06/08/07 - Florence

07/08/07 - Cinque Terre

08/08/07 - 09/08/07 - Venice

10/08/07 - Night train to Paris

11/08/07 - 13/08/07 - Paris

13/08/07 - Fly back to States - au revoir Paris!