This morning was kind of rough, I must say! I woke up with a few back pains from my uncomfortable bed and on top of that my sinuses are acting up. It looks like Ben got an early start on the day again because he had already left by the time the rest of us woke up. I was looking forward to redeeming myself on the golf course, but when I looked out the window, I noticed that it was pouring the rain. Since the three of us woke up a little later than what we wanted to, Adam and Alison suggested that we take advantage of the free breakfast in the hotel lounge. After eating breakfast we all purchased Italy souvenir cards to send back to our families for $1.35 each which was 4 euros, and then we headed out for the day with our new rain ponchos that we purchased for 6 euros each from the hotel.
After walking around for about a half hour, it quit raining and we found a local band playing some nice Italian music just when the sun began to come out. We also met three really nice Italian people that were college students too. After talking and getting to know each other a little bit, we decided to go grab some lunch and continue our conversation. Since they knew their way around, we took their advice and had lunch at Osteria Allegro Pachino which is situated in the historical center of Rome, next to the beautiful Fontana di Trevi. As we all finished our lunch and two bottles of wine, we exchanged numbers and made plans to hopefully meet up in the future. Our total expenses at the restaurant were 50 euros.
With our stomachs aching from too much to eat and a little too much wine for the time of day, we decided that it was too late to try and play golf. Instead the three of us decided we would try something new out and take a martial arts class at Taramanni Kung Fu Schooljust to say we had experienced a new activity. As the class started, I thought to myself that this looks pretty neat. We actually learned some moves that would help us if someone ever tried to mug us on the street. We even got to see our instructor break through wood with a hand chop, which was awesome. We all decided that we would have to look into some more classes once we got back to Raleigh. The other students and the instructor were really friendly as well, even though we held the class up a couple of times when we were going over a few moves. Our expense for the class was 20 euros apiece which was 80 Euros.
Well finally after a day of walking around, exploring the city, and learning martial arts, our three friends from earlier called us up and invited us to a family dinner. I will definitely say that it was one of the most interesting family dinners I have ever experienced. The authentic, home cooked Italian food was amazing. The conversation and wine was even better than the food though. The family was definitely happy to have us over and they were some of the best hosts that you can find. I can say for sure that this has been one of the highlights of the trip thus far, and I will never forget the friends we made and the wonderful conversation we had.
Total Expenses: 158 Euros, 114 U.S. Dollars
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-Matt
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