THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

      TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH., 2019
        THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
          (OR,,RETURN OF THE BLOG!)

    We're back home! It must be home. I woke
up yesterday morning to a sunny, 65 degree day
in Barcelona, Spain. I woke up this morning to
a coating of snow and temperatures around
freezing.  Yep! We're home.
     We began our whirlwind swing around
Europe a week ago with a wonderful group of
travelers from, for the most part, northeastern
Pennsylvania My wife and I were escorting the
group on behalf of Travelworld in Scranton and
Kingston.
      Our first stop, Rome!
      For those of us who don't sleep very well
on airplanes I can tell you Rome is about three
and a half movies away  from Newark, New Jersey.
Fortunately for me United Airlines has a pretty
good list of movies including new releases like
"John Wick 3."
       The action in that feature was accentuated
when the pilot apparently made a wrong turn!
I assumed that was the case as the aircraft rocked
rather violently for about 4 minutes suggesting to
me it was flying over Pennsylvania pot holes!
       We began our tour immediately upon
arriving in Rome. It's the only way you can begin
to adjust your body to the 6 hour time difference
A bus tour through the city gave us an over view
and free time during the afternoon and evening
allowed us to focus on attractions we wanted to
see up close.
        Since my wife and I had visited the
Coliseum on a previous Roman holiday we set
out, at night, to find the Trevi Fountain made
famous to most Americans through the movie
and song "Three Coins in the Fountain."
          The map provided by our hotel gave us
a general direction in which to walk but, somehow,
me managed to get lost a bit turning an estimated
20  minute stroll into an hour search!
           When we finally joined the crowds at
the historic site we limited our coin toss into the
fountain to three U.S. pennies figuring we'd need
all our euros for a cab ride back!
             Another major attraction, The Spanish
Steps, were said to be close by so we decided
to find those as well. That decision had us lost
again within ten minutes!
              It took one elderly Italian (who spoke
no English), a couple from Pittsburg (who had
two smart phone direction finders that didn't
agree), and one Australian to get us to the steps!
               Fortunately there was a taxi stand close
by and those euros we saved from the fountain
saved our feet and backs!
               I'll have more on our trip and the
adventures, some unexpected, in my next
blog! Hope you'll follow along and that
all your NEWS is good.