Saying Goodbye, Travelling, and Thoughts on Elevators

What an incredible conference and experience. I hated to say goodbye to my new international friends and colleagues but it was time to get on the train in Assisi and head back to Roma Termini.

I could tell I had relaxed and adjusted to the Italian lifestyle in Assisi when we got off the train into a flood of people and got frustrated and the hurry up and stop pace. Dale went ahead and got our train tickets for tomorrow morning (so we can get to the airport) and we headed towards our new B&B. At the Beehive we found out our new place to lay our heads is literally three blocks from where we spent our first few nights in Rome. I will say the management said no more than 2 people in the elevator, with luggage, at a time. When we got here there is no way more than one person can fit in the elevator with luggage. It is a bit old and slow and made me slightly nervous as the doors in the elevator did not quite shut all the way so you could see between them as you ascended up and felt like you might be in the magic glass elevator from Willy Wonka because for a brief moment I thought we would actually go through the ceiling. Alas I made it to the fifth floor safely and sent it back down for everyone else (however after dinner I climbed the steps, and for those of you who know me it is not because I am a fitness guru). Now not that I am trying to harp on this elevator thing...but I am....it was slightly unnerving that our elevators in Assisi, which were much larger than the ones in Rome, sometimes jerked before the doors closed. For a group of people who have been stuck together in an elevator recently this can be a rather scary thing. Of course the last time it happened all four of us had accidentally gotten in the elevator again together. Cathy was up against the back wall staring straight ahead, and I don't think she was breathing. Carolyn was next to her looking at the floor. None of us wanted to state that we should not all be in an elevator, and then it happened. Right after the elevator doors shut Dale rushed the three of us yelling SHIFT! What could we do but laugh? Oh by the way tomorrow when we leave, we will be going down one at a time.

As soon as we got in we freshened up we headed out to see the Pantheon and other sights. Some interesting factoids about the Pantheon, the dome roof is actually open to the sky. When it rains it comes down on a section of the marble floor that is higher than the rest and has drainage holes in it so that the water will drain out of the building. You can actually feel the slope in the floor which is pretty cool. It was originally created as a temple to the Gods and is now a Christian Church (consecrated in 609).

After that we did a little walking tour of Rome and bought our last few souvenirs. Then we made our way back to Gesuppies for dinner and enjoyed our last Italian dinner very very much. Tomorrow we are headed back to the states and we will be letting you know how that goes as well. Stay tuned for links with all sorts of photos and other neat links in the days that follow.