ROME SWEET ROME - SPLIT, CROTIA & ROME, ITALY - DAY 28

Kay and the boys got up at 5AM to hit the road. She woke me up at 6AM to say our official goodbye. She felt bad for waking me, but didn't want to leave without saying goodbye properly. I'm glad she did. We hugged it out. She'll be an E.R. Doctor after this trip, and I don't know when I'll see her again- I doubt I'll ever get to see the boys after this. It was really bittersweet, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. I couldn’t fall back asleep after. Plus, Kay and I have been traveling on a tight schedule with late bedtimes and early wake up calls, so this wasn’t bad haha!

It was strange having the place empty and to myself. I took my time in the apartment. I ate leftovers, had instant coffee, and went outside on our balcony multiple times to soak in the views for the last time. It was sunny again in the early hours of the morning, giving me the pleasure of receiving the city's beauty once more. I take my time to meditate and thank God for this- For everything. I had hours to go out and explore, but truthfully the only thing that put me off to that idea was that the sky quickly changed from blue to grey. It got cold and rainy again, and everything was STILL closed with no guarantee of WiFi which I needed to catch my Uber to the airport. I certainly didn’t want to miss that in a foreign country with hardly any English speakers.

I hung out and spent most of my time packing, cleaning a bit, and sending updates on my phone to Kay. I scheduled the Uber early, and arrived at the airport at 11am for a 4pm flight. My logic was making sure I get to the airport early with security as I always do / have done, make sure it’s the CORRECT airport because they have a few in Split, and surely they’ll have a bunch of things open at the airport, to do and to eat.

To my great surprise, the airport is SMALL. It barely stretches 100ft from end to end. Plus, it was EMPTY. And I don’t know how I’ve not learned my lesson at this point, but of course the main restaurant is closed. They had a bar with sandwiches and nothing else- Not even chips to sell. I had an overpriced ham and cheese sandwich and their typical Ozujsko beer. When you have all the time in the world, time moves as slow as molasses. I purposely move and eat slower in hopes of making the time feel like it’s moving at a faster pace. I eventually go through security, and buy Marcello and Agneta a nice bottle of Croatian wine to say thank you for housing me in Rome. I board the slightly delayed plane, and have a wild ride with Croats and Italians. A minor fiasco occurred in that, an Italian couple wanted to sit together, and it delayed everyone boarding another 5-10mins until another customer complained and a flight attendant stepped in. The Croats were all talking shit about this Italian couple- Among them, a nun, a skin head, and a disgusting dude, dressed like a slob, massaging his wrapped, wounded foot propped up on his next seat, while taking pain meds with an open bottle of beer he snuck onto the plane. This was hilarious to watch and I tried to film them discreetly multiple times, but to no avail. At least the flight was quick.

We landed in Bella Roma where Agneta scooped me up and I'm Rome Sweet Rome again. I faced the challenge of remembering all of my Swedish and barely sputtering through. I forgot a lot but I gathered most of what Agneta said, catching me up on their family. They miss you Mom and Dad!

Agneta takes me to a beautiful apartment literally across the street from their restaurant. I barely walked at all today.

They feed me fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, oil rosemary and garlic bread, ravioli, fresh seafood, and sorbet. I don’t have any photos of these because I got it all on my good camera. But I know you know what the food is like, as they’ve fed us the best meals so many times before.

Manuel joins us briefly and the musicians come out to play wonderfully. Those guys are crazy talented. I also spoke to a waiter that Agneta had introduced me to, his name is Lelo? His English is perfect, and I tell him I just came from Croatia. He’s studied Buddhism in Tibet and Malaysia and is well traveled. He said he just read that they discovered a pyramid inland from there! His argument is that pyramids and ancient structures are all over the globe. Historically this would make sense, but mainstream history has led us to believe that pyramids were only built in Egypt. What an interesting guy- I’d love to pick his brain further on his travels...Maybe later tomorrow.

We talk about you, Nano, and the Marcy, and the boys. By now, it’s getting late, and we all hop off to bed.

Tomorrow, my only itinerary is to hit up all my favorite food places and film as I go along. What a perfect last day- Eating my way through Rome. It’s supposed to rain, so we’ll see how far I get. Agneta is taking me to the airport at 7AM in two days. I told her I can just take the train, but she waved it off and said, “for us, it’s a pleasure”. What an incredible world-wide family I have.

Love you!

-eM

Xoxoxo