Concluding Italy

My flight back to Israel was at 1140, and I had gotten my bag from the train station in Rome at 6AM. I took a bus to the airport and finally got some sleep after being up all night on the pub crawl. The airport in Rome sucks. I took a shuttle to a differerent terminal where I checked in then took a shuttle back to the first terminal. After checking in at the gate, we took another shuttle to a different terminal where the plane was sitting on the tarmac for us. But what really takes the cake was the security paranoia which was bordering stupidity. Aside from what seems to be the standard of removing my shoes and belt I had to take out all my electronics and place them in a CLEAR PLASTIC BAG! I know what your follow up question is - does electronics include my watch? It sure does! Simply rediculous. I got on the plane and passed out immediately. I briefly woke up when the person next to me was placing a bottle of water that they were handing out into the pouch in front of me. The next time I woke up was just as that same person placed a sandwhich in front of me. Weird, eh? My senses are on the ball! Lunch was a sandwhich and a small piece of cake - both of which were quite good when we are talking about airplane food. After the meal it was back to sleep and then next thing I know we have already landed in Tel Aviv!!!! And that concluded my 12 days in Italy. From the airport I headed back to Jerusalem.

For my first time in Europe I managed to travel quite efficiently. It is much easier to do things when you are alone. I didn't have to listen to anyone else's needs, and I could stick to my rediculous schedule which often involved not having much of a schedule. I enjoyed winging my vacation and doing it on the fly. It made it more exciting when its not planned. The food was great, and I really enjoyed the pizza in Italy. I managed to see 12 cities in 12 days so I moved at quite an incredible rate, without slowing down for too long.