Destination Rome!

We're going to Rome!

Mary and I have been talking about doing a longer, international vacation for several years now. There have been lots of ideas but one thing or another always came up to keep us from going.

When we were back in Chicago visiting with her parents in July, we had dinner with her friend Mariola. Mary and Mariola have also been talking about doing a vacation together for a long time. The four of us (with Mariola's husband, Tom) decided over dinner and wine that this was the year and that Rome was the destination. Pretty simple, let's just go.

Before I continue in this journal, I'd like to introduce the cast of characters. There's my wonderful wife, Mary. She's had an interest for traveling and living abroad since she first traveled to Russia as a teenager. Now, she's a successful customer experience designer in silicon valley. Living abroad hasn't happened yet but she does travel regularly which makes her happy.

Mariola was Mary's college roommate who studied to be a lawyer but decided to stay at home and raise a son and three wonderful girls. The day-to-day stories she shares about raising kids are entertaining and the kids are a great testament to her as a mom.

Next up is Mariola's husband Tom. He is a lawyer and has a fantastic ability to remember facts, trivia, details and stories. He spent a year in Rome as part of his college days and is a walking, talking, story telling machine. With his past experiences there and the research he's been doing for this trip, it's going to be great.

Lastly, there are Mariola's 12 year old daughters, Kate, Sarah and Samantha. They're fraternal so you would think it would be easy for me to tell them apart. But the couple of times I've met them, I've confused names and faces. It's going to be interesting. Maybe I should get shirts made for each of them. Perhaps with their name, perhaps just a number. But if they're anything like their mom, they'll trade shirts through the day just to confuse me.

We don't have too many details of the trip planned out which is how I typically like to travel. There's the flight from home to Rome and back again. There's a place to stay in Rome, we've rented a 3 bedroom apartment near the forum. And there are tickets to a museum that's reservations only for sometime during the week. The rest will be wherever we wander and whatever we discover. Since I've never been there, it's all new and will be almost impossible to go wrong. Mary, Mariola and Tom have all been to Rome before and I'm sure their ideas on what to see will be a little different.

I think the only thing that I really want to do is find the best gelato in Rome. With a city like Rome, traveling from one gelato shop to another will take me past and through much of the wonderful places and sights to see in Rome.

It's gonna be a great trip!