June 15 - Breakfast in London, Lunch in Munich and Dinner in Rome

Today was a travel day that rivals our journey home from Tanzania ... except this time, with 3 kids!



After a 20 hour odyssey that included 4 busses, 3 airplanes, 2 cars (alas, no trains), we arrived in Rome at 3:00 local time. The kids were amazing on all the flights - chatting, playing and, at least for a few hours, sleeping peacefully. All connections were made, all bags were retrieved, all people arrived unscathed. Can you ask for anything more out of a travel day??



We met our host, Marco at our apartment in the Monteverde neighborhood of Rome. It was blessedly overcast when we arrived so a little cooler than usual. Natalie slept only 3 hours on all of those flights so she passed out so solidly in the taxi on the way home from the airport I didn't think she'd come to until we were ready to go to bed. One whisper of gelato in her ear and she regained consciousness surprisingly quickly.



The older 2 found the room with 2 twin beds and easily slid into roommate mode - choosing their beds, putting away their clothes and getting their stuffies ready for bedtime. They are so cute together. Natalie has a room of her own -- if she doesn't sleep well at home, there's almost no chance that she'll sleep in Rome!



After getting a little organized, we slipped out into the neighborhood for dinner. Surprise, no restaurants are open until 8:00 pm! And I mean, no restaurants! We took this opportunity to buy some groceries and a rotisserie chicken and had our first meal in Rome back at our apartment. It was perfect!



Everyone was passed out by 7:30 pm. Ready for our first adventure tomorrow!