When In Rome, Do As The Romans Do
Howdy howdy there. We got on to the bus leaving for Chianti yesterday and realized it was like an American carriage. Everyone and their dog asked where we were from and when we answered with North Dakota, they looked and laughed. I would smile and then make a few comments of my own under my breath…something having do with their oufits and/or bad teeth. We visited a castle and its wine cellar, which was built in the 11th century. Pretty cool. I think I got some really good photos of the wine barrels, so I am pumped about that 
We tried three wines which were served with cheese, and homemade olive oil on hard bread. Did not have the bread of course, but everything else was great. Chianti Classico was what was served. From there we drove to a village called Greve, walked around and saw some shops, devoured some gelato and we were on our way. The countryside full of vineyards and olive trees was a nice change from the citylife of Florence! We left Alona and our villa for Rome then this morning. Wahoo, our last trip in an Italian train, that equals the last time I have to use a bathroom in an Italian train!
We got to Rome fine and actually found our hostel right away. Yippee, our luck is changing. The staff is great because they joked around with us and can speak English pretty well. If I have not stressed it enough yet, the driving here is insane. Purely insane. STOP signs are merely suggestions, they drive very fast, motorscooters zoom out of everywhere and blare their horns. CRAZY! The thing here is to just go when you have to cross the street, do not wait for a signal because the cars do not follow the lights! Therefore, “when in Rome…” Tonight we plan on hanging out at a local pub and figuring out our plan of attack for the next 2 days. It is going to be an intense sightseeing weekend 
One more thing, my days and dates are all running together so I would just like to quickly say Happy Belated Birthday to Audrey and Happy Anniversary to Deni and Brad. Yay!
