Day 4/5 - driving

We made it to Roma and were at Fabio's by 6am after dropping Marcello off at his own car. There were five of us in a VW Torreg (the pic below is Marcello with the car).

The middle seat in back is not really made to sit on, there's no seatbelt. The AC did not work. But even after 400 euros for gas and 100 euros for tunnel tolls we were lucky to be able to move around Europe. So many people are stuck that all of the major airports have set up cots in the airport because all hotels are full so we are really grateful to Marcello for being in the car for 30 hours straight to get us and take us back and to Fabio & Adrian for having a bed for us. The picture below is our first gas bill!

Enough of the depressing stuff.

Once Marcello arrived we had a quick lunch of crepes (i had a goat cheese crepe with walnut salad). Then we took Marcello on a whirlwind tour with him and Adrian jumping out to take photos at Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. By 3pm we were enroute to Roma.

The drive wasn't bad at all. There was a lot to see, we talked and joked for the first 10 hours and slept through the last four. Granted, I didn't take a turn driving, but it seemed to go quickly.

We saw many castles (the tan spot in the picture above is a castle) and as we neared the alps some castles were on the edge of a cliff which was crazy looking. The country side was lush and green and the moutain air around the alps was so fresh and pure, it smelled if earth, nature and health. You can see the sun setting on the alps below.

We had to pass through many, many, many tunnels. I am claustrophobic and I was already squeezed into the back middle nonseat of this hot car so when we entered a tunnel it was not a good situation for me. Luckily watching the sun set on the alps (4th pic) provided a great distraction. However, there was one tunnel, through Mount Blanc, that is nearly 7 miles long. For this I had to meditate and find my happy place :)

Switzerland is not EU so we tried very hard to avoid it since customs with two Americans, an Italian and two Argentinian Italians in a car that isn't properly registered (Fabio just bought it and it still has the US equivelant of paper tags) would be a nightmare in Switzerland. We passed right next to Geneva though and could see houses that were Swiss while we were driving through France.

We stopped for dinner as soon as we entered into Italy around 9pm. We were in a tiny town of Aosta and were very lucky to find a Trattoria (diner) open so late on a Sunday night. I ordered pizza expecting enough for one person, you how big it was. It was yummy though.

After dinner Adrian and I practiced English, Italian and Spanish before falling asleep. The speeds made it hard to sleep for long, Fabio averaged 220 km/hr which is about 140mph!

It was cramped and crazy. We sped by things that I wanted to stop and see but it was fun considering the circumstances and, as always, I'm glad to be back in Roma.

Now it is 7am and we're a going to bed.

Life is crazy.

Sara
7:10a - Roma