Considering the excitement of the day, we both slept really well. We had gotten most of our packing done the night before and with a 2:30 pm pickup time, we knew we had plenty of time to finish the last-minute stuff.
We headed out for our normal morning walk, had breakfast and I had a “hair day”, which is getting a little easier for me. (I have opted to go the curly route this trip as it will hopefully be quicker and easier to manage.) We both finished up some chores around the house, ate leftovers to clean out the fridge and we were ready when our driver, Eugene, came to pick us up. We have used Eugene in the past and really have a good rapport with him, so we get him whenever we can.
The drive to the airport was uneventful and we were able to check in easily, got through security quickly and then waited to board. A quick flight to JFK with a 1 ½ hour layover, which gave us time for a glass of wine to celebrate the start of our vacation.
We took Iceland Air from JFK to Reykjavik, and as usual for us, neither one of us slept. It was a 5 ½ hour flight and with the time changes we arrived in Iceland around 5:30 am, which is around 12:30 am NC time (they are 4 hours ahead of us). We had about an hour layover and we boarded for Italy. There was about a 40-minute delay in leaving as they were waiting for another plane to come in that had multiple passengers for our flight. John and I both dozed while waiting for take off and I think he may have slept some, but I just sat there with eyes closed ready to get off the plane, lol! It is about a 3 ½ hour flight from Reykjavik to Rome and with the time change again, we arrived in Rome about 3:30 pm. (Italy is 6 hours ahead of us.)
We had a driver pick us up at the airport instead of trying to maneuver the train with the amount of luggage that we had. With being gone so long this trip (basically 2 ½ months) plus having to pack for hot and cool/cold weather, we ended up with 2 medium suitcases and 1 small suitcase. The drive to the BNB was about 35 minutes with traffic, but we were dropped right off at the door and our host, Rafaella, was there waiting for us. We stayed in the same BNB when we were here in 2023, so we were already familiar with everything.
We quickly unpacked, freshened up, and hit the little grocery store below us for the essentials. We then walked to scope out the gallery we have a tour with tomorrow and then had dinner at one of the restaurants outside. We love sitting outside and watching the people/cars/scooters zipping around. John had Risotto di Mari and I had the Fettucine Bolognese. The food was great as well as the house white wine that comes in the little ½ liter pitchers they use. We finished up the meal with their version of tiramisu that comes in a glass, which was pretty good. We headed back to the BNB, showered, then both read for a few minutes until it was almost 9 pm here and then it was lights out!
It was a long 16-hour trip, but we made it and are glad to be back in our happy place. We both fell in love with Italy in 2023 and I can see us coming back a lot in the future! Tomorrow is our private tour at the Palazzo Barberini Museum with an art historian guide at 2 pm. I’m sure we will not be in any hurry in the morning! Until tomorrow…..ciao!
