Italy: getting there is half the fun, plus hilarity

When Coach and I got to O'Hare, I was wiped. I'd barely slept. When we got to our gate, I ate my GF pizza that I made before we left. Security had flagged my bag. "That's my pizza. I have celiac. Please don't touch my food." I considered this my last meal, like What if I can't find anything to eat, or more immediately - what if the airline forgot to pack the GF meal I'd requested?

Then I moved to a row of seats a few rows over (still at our gate), because people near us were loud and I wanted to snooze. I slept for about 30 minutes, sitting in a chair with my feet on my wheelie bag and scooched down enough that my head could rest on the back of the chair. I WOKE UP AND FELT AMAZING . . . until I saw Coach - sitting by our original spot, waving at me. 

The airline people had walked around and identified bags that they thought looked heavy. What? I'd bought carry-on wheelie bags. Operative words:  carry-on. She weighed our bags, and made us check them. I was slightly panicked/still groggy. Where were my meds? Did I need anything out of this bag that I assumed they were gonna drop in the ocean? 

Despite feeling a little unsettled, I slept SO MUCH on our flight. Coach was jealous. Maybe having crappy sleep is me cracking the code on how to beat jet lag. When we flew to Budapest to see Ed, the shooting pain down my leg was insane. I had none of that. Praise the Lord. 

Coach hunting for the right bus:  take 1.

We changed planes in Zurich. Guess who slept on that entire short flight? Yep - me! I felt almost refreshed when we got to Rome.

We struggled to find the bus that would drop us near our hotel. Once we figured that out, we lugged all of our stuff (our bags made it- Phew) to the bus and I asked if we could pay for tickets on the bus. The driver didn't even look up, but pointed. What exactly was he pointing at? I may never know. We trudged back to the train station and eventually found a newsstand that sold the tickets.

Regrets:  I have them. This process took forever and looking back, I wish we'd just waited at the train station for Mini. I was thinking she was arriving by train hours after us, and she WAS -but since we'd waited for our bags and lapped the train station multiple times, and practically had to hand over a kidney to get a bus ticket (that no one ever looked at), we'd killed a lot of time. 

Mini arrived at the train station, a mere 10 minutes from our hotel, shortly after we were checked into our room. I felt so dumb. She couldn't figure out the bus ticket buying thing either and my directions weren't helping. She was grumpy. 

No, I haven't watched
My Octopus
 Teacher, why do you ask?

But then she arrived and SHE WAS WITH US . . . and all felt right in the world. Oh my gosh. It was so great to hug her (she's not a big hugger, have we talked about the fact that she's so ticklish, I think it's almost a disability?). We went to dinner in a restaurant built in a cave, and she told a story that had us dying laughing. Plus, I ate octopus. 

While cutting into
her dinner, Mini's
 food spit at her and
she hadn't packed
 much for our
 Rome visit. Ugh.
 Guess who had
 baby wipes
 back in the room? 

*I vowed to not make a fuss if a place couldn't feed me, just eat what I thought might work, or decide to eat a bag of safe snacks back at the room. Octopus (I don't generally like seafood) was tasty. Despite my coma-like flight demeanor, I was tired and hungry and I think I would've eaten my own foot if necessary. 

Mini's story:  Not sure you'll get the gist without her facial expressions and antics. Use your imagination. Mini and a few friends did a wine tasting thing. The waitress gave them instructions that the girls found confusing. Her bestie from home, who was visiting, deferred to Mini to start. The waitress poured water in Mini's glass. She indicated a bowl (?) in the middle of the table and said Spit. (or something close/sounded like spit)

Mini shrugged, swished the water in her mouth, and then spit it into the bowl. The waitress grimaced, waved her hand, moved the bowl away from Mini's face, and said, "No, no!" 

I think she was supposed to swish the water in her glass and then pour the water in the bowl. I can't remember. I was cry laughing. 

*****

Know anyone who is ridiculously ticklish? Have you eaten octopus? Have you messed up at a wine tasting? Clearly you can dress us Shenanigans up, but you can't take us out (hello, sauce splatter, wine spitting).