July 2nd I started my trip in Orlando and was headed to Rome, Italy. First flight was Orland to JFK a shot and easy flight. Once I made it to JFK and took bus to the correct terminal. Once I got to the gate it was a little confusing. There were 2 different lines and no directions about why so many people were in line. I found out one line was to get you temperature checked and your boarding pass stamped. Then I asked if I needed to get into the 2nd line and was told no, so I sat down and waited for the boarding. Then there was an announcement that you needed 2 stamps on your boarding pass: 1st stamp for showing your temperature has been checked 2nd stamp to show that you have shown your covid vaccine card or a negative covid test and your passenger locator form for Italy. By the time I had collected both of my stamps it was my turn to get onto the plane. We were given pillows, blankets, toothbrush and toothpaste, face mask and ear plugs.

Dinner on the plane was chicken with mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. A cucumber and tomato salad with ice cream for dessert. I only got about an hour of sleep on the plane.

Once I arrived in Rome and got off of the plane I started following all of the people to arrivals. I think our plane was the only one that was arriving at that time which was nice. We were about 30 minutes early. As you follow the line to customs you come to one section and have to scan your passport. Then you pass the first barrier and then had to pull your mask down and there was a camera that scanned your face and you passed through to get to the line for customs. Then it was time for customs, I just had to hand over my passport and received a stamp. Then it was time to go to baggage. We did not have to fill out any forms and no questions were asked. It was a very quick process. Then onto baggage to start collecting my things! Once I had my baggage it was time to find the exit. The Wares were not allowed inside of the airport, so I had to find them outside. I was following the signs to the exit, but it said Exit/Taxi which made me wonder if that was the correct way. There was also an exit sign to the left, so I went that way to take a second to figure out what was going on. As I looked around I saw that only 1 door was open for exiting the airport and made my way back to that door. Once outside there were tons of people waiting to pick up passengers, it was a gamble to decide which way to go to find the Wares. Luckily I was able to see Kyndall looking at the window since she had seen me and then lost me when I went left inside the airport. We headed to the car to make our way into Rome.

First stop in Rome was to park the car in a garage and decide what we needed to our 1 night stay. Parking was a little crazy the entrance was blocked off and you had to go down the exit to get to the underground parking. We then headed over to the room we rented. It was less than a 5 minute was from Piazza del Popolo. The plaza was set up with different activities for the UEFA EURO 2021 (European football/soccer championship) since it was being held in Italy and Italy is playing in the tournament.

We stayed at Magenta Deluxe, it was inside an apartment building. When were taking into the apartment there were 4 rooms and a little common area with some tables and chairs. We were in room 4. It had a small little room in the front with a bed, dresser and chair. Then you walked down a short hallway and there was the bathroom. Up about 3 steps was the next room with another bed, dresser, and chair. The commons area had a printer, fridge, and espresso machine. This place had AC (which worked great) and was in a good location to walk to several places. The downside was the wifi we could not get wifi from our room without sitting right next to the door. You had to go into the common area which was a little warmer and stuffy since there was no AC and no windows open for ventilation. After a quick shower (for me) it was time to head out and start exploring.

Dinner was a few doors down from our hotel. We ate at La Buca di Ripetta. We arrived a little after 7pm (they did not open until 7). It was our table and 1 other group there. We were able to get a seat outside which was fun. The sidewalk runs between the restaurant and the seating area. My seat was right next to the road you are basically sitting on a platform in the road. People could park their car right behind Aly’s seat. It was so crazy!

After dinner we walked back to the Piazza del Popolo, but the soccer game (Calcio) was about to start. It sounded like you had to have a ticket to get into the square to watch the game on the screens they had up there. This was the last night of the quarter finals of the tournament that was being held in Rome. The tournament was being held at Stadio Olimpico about 2.5 miles north from where we were staying. After a quick stop at the mini mart to grab some water we headed back to our room to get ready for bed. It was about 9pm and people were starting to come out and about to eat.