When in Rome (part 1)

Oh boy! I scarcely know where to begin or what to record... I'll take it mostly chronologically, somewhat bullet pointy, definitely rambly.

*****

We flew RyanAir for the second time - the first being Paris - so knew the bus-to-distant-terminal routine better and, thankfully planned well enough to make our flight easily despite the bus we'd intended to take being full well before the line of people were on board. Phew. Unfortunately, as we were walking into the airport from the shuttle, Nathaniel realized he had forgotten to take TWO pocket knives out of his pants pockets before we left. Once an Eagle Scout, always an Eagle Scout. He had a small keychain swiss knife and my good swiss army knife. I once had a similar situation with only carry ons and a pocket knife inadvertently left in my purse, but I'd been at the Denver airport, which is huge, so security had pointed out the nearby post office, where I could mail the knife home to myself and have it waiting for me on my return. There was no such option at Skavsta.

Because he couldn't bring himself to throw the knives straight into the trash, Nathaniel had the idea to stash them outside the airport, where he could attempt to retrieve them on our return! As the kids and I used the bathrooms and emptied our water bottles in preparation for security, he hunted around outside for a suitable bush to hide them under while trying not to look like a total creeper.

All week, we speculated and joked about whether they'd be there when we got back... sad spoiler, they were not to be found. Keep in mind, we got home at 11:00pm, so he looked even more like a creeper hunting around in the bushes in the near-darkness trying to find his knives. It was pretty hilarious. But the bushes had been trimmed and mulch applied while we were gone. Bad luck timing for landscaping. Oh well. He owes me a new pocket knife.

*****

When we arrived in Rome Monday night, we had a car hired to drive us to the AirBnB that Renee had lined up. Phil and Renee had arrived the night prior, and she had texted me to say they had gone to dinner but would be at the apartment in time for our arrival.

Even better! As the car turned up the street we were staying on, we saw Renee and Phil and the boys just arriving at the apartment building! It was the sweetest way to reunite - them walking home from dinner, us yelling with excitement out the van window! The driver of the van was attempting to drive us further up the street, saying no, this is was not the correct address. But we assured him that we were joining these people, and so yes, this must be the correct address, and we piled out of the car and paid him.

After hugs and excitement all around, Phil fumbled with the key to show us into the building, until a gentleman leaving held the door. We hauled our suitcases up to the second floor (reminder: the ground floor does not count in Europe, so that's two flights up), where Phil struggled again with the key. The door wouldn't work. Then, Renee noticed that the sign that should have been by the door was missing. Then, everything clicked!

We really were at the wrong address!

There were two apartment buildings with identical entrances a half block apart. Phil and Renee, in all the bustle and excitement and newness, had brought us all into the wrong building. Thank heavens no one appeared to have been home at the apartment we were attempting to break into! We all laughed loudly - we're Cunninghams, and a big group of Cunninhams at that, so we did everything loudly - as we made our way up the street to the correct building, where the keys worked. The driver had long since left, so didn't have a chance to tell us he'd told us so.

*****

I will let Renee make all my AirBnB reservations from now on. I'm more than a little gun shy after the Paris fiasco, but the apartment she found for us in Rome was wonderful! It slept all 13 of us comfortably in four bedrooms (one each per couple, then a bedroom for each sibling set), and had four bathrooms! My three youngest shared a queen sized bed, so it wouldn't sleep 13 adults, perhaps, but it worked fine for our needs. The only thing it lacked was a living room space, but it had a big dining room/kitchen area that served well enough. The linens were all white and bright, and overall the apartment had a clean, airy feel to it. Also, no bugs, which is key.

It was a 20 to 30 minute walk to St. Peter's (depending what age kids you were herding), so not bad, and it was just a few minutes to a subway stop and a newly built mall with a fun food court and a BIG grocery store. After we dropped off our bags, we spent the remainder of our first evening in the mall, getting dinner for our family and stocking the kitchen for the next couple days. I can only imagine how our crazy crew of kids, running wild through the grocery story at 10:30pm, must have looked to the employees. Thankfully hardly anyone else was in the store at the time. The kids were super keyed up with reunion-excitement!

If you ever head to Rome with a small group or big family, I'd recommend the AirBnB! (I say that, not having done any of the communication with the owner, so Phil and Renee would be the better ones to decide whether we'd recommend it.)