Wedding of Wonders – The Blog

Apologies that it took me so long to get these photos up here, but it’s been a little hectic recently. For those of you who haven’t heard, I (Mike) found out a week after the wedding that there was an opportunity for me to move to Munich for work and after discussing it with Katie, we took it! Though this means Katie and I are going to be located on different continents for the next few years, at least it will also mean lots of frequent flier miles and an unlimited supply of Stroopwaffels! Katie is entering her last year of law school in a week or so and upon completion this coming spring she’ll be headed out to Los Angeles to take the music industry by storm. …So, needless to say, it’s been a pretty busy summer.

But without further ado, below is a link to our web album of some of the wedding photos. Thank you Ian Grant for your amazing work!

Wedding Of Wonders: the album.

Please stay in touch, if you’re ever around (in Philly or Germany) let us know! Thank you for all the support and good wishes, we had an amazing time on the trip and at the wedding. All the best to everyone and hopefully we’ll see you again soon!

Ah Rio, what an appropriate last stop. Beautiful beaches, beautiful people, sun, warm weather and relaxation. Rio was really a great place, we had a blast. …but I’m getting ahead of myself. Our flight to Rio was mostly uneventful, as by this time Katie and I have become expert packers, fliers and basically anything that goes into traveling. Our short stopover en route to Brazil was in Portugal, which, from our brief stay and the general demeanor of our flight attendants from TAP, seems to be very much like Spain. By that I mean one prioritizes life in the following way: 1) Partying 2) Eating and Drinking 3) Looking Good 4) Everything else 5) Working and benefiting the economy. They follow a similar schedule of 9AM – 1PM work, after that take a 2+ hour lunch and come back to work (if you feel like it). I’m not being critical, I’m just jealous. Sounds like an awesome place to be. But when we got to Rio, I saw a whole new level of lifestyle.

No matter what day of the week it is, it seems that the average ‘Rio de Janeiran’ wakes up sometime around 10, jogs along the beach, stops at one of the many pull-up bars on the beach to get jacked and tan and show off his physique, then drinks a coconut (like me) and heads onto the beach to play a game of volleyball, paddle ball or soccer (while drinking beer) until the sun sets.

He then eats (maybe his first real meal all day) and heads to the clubs until 4 AM. Rinse and repeat. Again, I’m pretty jealous. How do I know all this? This guy told me:

So with this schedule, as you can imagine, beaches and bodies are of utmost priority. As we strolled down Copa Cabana and Ipanema, we happened upon (rather happily, in my opinion) many scenes just like this one:

Unfortunately, even if most people looked like that, there are always some that look like this:

So let your eyes wander responsibly.

But Rio has much more than just beautiful beaches and (some) beautiful people, it’s an incredible city surrounded by mountains and forest directly on the ocean. We had the amazing opportunity to have our tour guide (André) all to ourselves (no one else booked a tour with him that day) as he took us all through the Tijuca Forest, up to Cristo Redentor and across the city. The forest (which is a re-planted forest!) has plants from all over the world growing side-by-side with beautiful waterfalls scattered throughout the greenery.

André was a tremendous sport when we stopped to get our photo with Christ the Redeemer. Since we were up so high, we were actually in/above the clouds.

This made for some really great photos and some spectacular shots, but it also made trying to get our perfect picture very, very frustrating.

After a few passes when Jesus looked like this:

We finally managed to get a great shot (credit to André as the photographer).

And it was with that photo that we completed our world tour. It was with a tremendous amount of relief and bittersweet accomplishment that we made our way down from the mountain. Katie and I just looked at each other shaking our heads and saying ‘wow… we really did it.’ There were times that weren’t easy, some were downright miserable, but all-in-all, I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate our wedding. When you start and end in the same place, getting to the destination means nothing – everything is about the journey… and what an unforgettable journey.

So thank you all again for all of your support, comments and love. We’ve got our wedding this Saturday and couldn’t be more excited. See you there, and thank you for sharing every flight, photo and step with us along the way.

Our second full day in London took us outside of the city bright and early.  We took the Underground to the airport to rent a car (unfortunately from Budget) so that we could drive the 60 or so miles out to Stonehenge.  Luckily the rental car office was more than a crazy Egyptian man in a glass box, so we were able to pick up the car without incident (or the need to drive 30 minutes with strangers in the back seat).

We decided to rent a Ford Fiesta since Mike’s friend Nick had told him that this car would help to save Ford from the same pit of despair that the other car companies had recently fallen into.  Although Mike is fairly proficient when it comes to driving manual cars, the good ol’ London switcheroo of having the steering wheel on the opposite side was  a new challenge.  I must say that I was extremely impressed with his ability to pick it up in only a few short minutes, making the majority of the ride smooth and free of any stalling in the middle of the road.

The drive out to Stonehenge was incredibly beautiful once we escaped the London traffic and made it out to the countryside.  The entire region is filled with green pastures and farmland, making it a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city.  Once we arrived at the exit for Stonehenge, we noticed that the wind was starting to pick up considerably.  We had read online that the area surrounding the site was subject to high winds, but we really underestimated just how strong the wind could be.  We pulled into the parking lot and headed towards the entrance.

Donning our typical outfits (which was quite the challenge due to the wind), we made our way to our photo spot. We also took a quick video of the process we undertake for each photo.

(By the way, here was the shot we were going for with that one — it’s not perfect but we wanted it to look like we were holding a stone)

Stonehenge was a really interesting location, especially since it was only a few days before the solstice. It was packed with buses of schoolchildren, German tourists and crazy nerds studying the stones. The stones are standing on a bluff out in the middle of nowhere – it is completely empty and extremely windy. It is pretty amazing that after thousands of years the true purpose of the rocks has never been conclusively determined.

After our stop at Stonehenge (2nd to last stop!), we AMAZINGLY got a table at THE FAT DUCK!!! We were on the wait list, but had never expected to get in — this call was a complete surprise that was extremely welcome. And we had such an incredible time. As we walked up it looked just like any other quaint building in a small town in Southern England… but it was much, much more.

The Fat Duck is ranked the 2nd best restaurant in the world, and any chance we get to dine at an establishment like that, we must take it. It’s a pretty fun place, very cozy and with lots of innovative food. We started off with a palette cleanser of vodka, egg whites, green tea and lime juice deep frozen in liquid nitrogen, it was amazing. Another course featured liquid nitrogen billowing over a mossy box (and our table) as we dined on our forest feast.

We then received a conch shell with headphones coming out of it and a plate resembling the ocean. We were instructed to ‘listen to the music and eat, it will all be explained later’. As we heard the sounds of the sea and enjoyed the complex flavors of the incredibly realistic seascape before us. We later found out that the dish included deep fried baby eels and tapioca sand. It was a really ingenious creation.

Then it was time for ‘breakfast’. First we had Fat Duck ‘cereal’ which was parsnip cereal with parsnip infused milk.

And what’s breakfast without eggs and bacon? Not fun, if you ask me. Next the chef came over with an egg (that had been drained and filled with eggs infused with bacon) which he cracked into a bowl of liquid nitrogen. After a few quick stirs, he dropped it atop a piece of french toast and a bacon-looking piece of sugar. Having this strange egg/bacon ice-cream (since the liquid nitrogen freezes it) with french toast was really awesome — really cool idea.

Everything this restaurant did was a show. It’s not the kind of place you would eat every day (much too over the top) but it is an incredibly innovative experience that was really a lot of fun. If you find yourself in London with time to hitch out to the suburbs, make sure to get there! It definitely deserves its spot at #2.

And it was on that, very very full note, that Mike and I vowed not to eat tasting menus for a long time (we’ve gotten quite fat on this trip). Since the wedding is just around the corner, it’s time to slim down so that we will fit into our respective wedding outfits. And since we’ve never felt fatter, it’s extremely appropriate that Rio is our next stop considering it is the land of beautiful people (in very tiny bathing suits). Talk to you soon!!!

I’ll admit that one of the best things about our stay in London was the fact that our adventures were not as mentally draining as our previous stops throughout Europe and Asia. Although we got by in most places with our limited language arsenal (Mike’s fairly extensive German skills, a few language books and my ability to nag him until he asks for help and/or directions), being back in a place where our language is the official language is somewhat comforting. You really underestimate the extra energy necessary to navigate your surroundings when you must first translate whatever it is you are trying to read/find/etc. (Cairo was especially a nightmare since both the words AND numbers must be translated from Arabic, thus making conversing, driving, exchanging money and doing pretty much anything besides hiding out in your terrible hotel room somewhat stressful.)

So, with all that said, we had a fantastic time in London. It was another brief stay for us (i.e., less than 4 days); however, we made the most of our time and saw just about everything we wanted to see. We arrived in London from Dusseldorf in the late afternoon and checked into the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel in the Knightsbridge section of the city. After dropping our luggage off in our room, we decided to scope out the area around where we were staying. Unfortunately, after only a few minutes of walking, the weather took a turn for the worst, so we ducked into a cute little pub around the corner. An order of fish and chips washed down with a few beers helped us to forget about the cold rain coming down outside and gave us a great first taste of London. Once the rain let up, we made our way back to the hotel and crawled into bed to rest up for the two full days of Wedding of Wonders excitement that awaited us.

The next day was filled with the quintessential tourist things across the city including the Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye, Covent Garden and numerous other stops in between. We arrived at Buckingham Palace just in time to be overrun by about a million tourists attempting to get a glimpse of the changing of the guards. Since we did not pack our German tourist coats for the occasion, we quickly moved through the enormous crowd, snapped a few pictures and made our way to the Underground en route to lunch.

On this particular day, we had plans to meet up with Mike’s friend Jim Vint from the FTI London office. Jim was one of the first people that Mike met when he started at FTI, so it was nice to catch up with him since he moved to London almost two years ago. We had a nice, delicious lunch at The White Swan in the Holborn section of the city where we reminisced about how quickly the last 5 years have simply flown by.

After lunch, we said goodbye to JV and continued east towards the Tower Bridge. Along the way we stopped to see St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge.

Although the clouds looked slightly ominous, the weather held up and made for an absolutely beautiful walk along the water. We passed the London Bridge (which is not at all attractive) and approached the beautiful, much more spectacular and freshly painted Tower Bridge.

We arrived just as a large boat entered the vicinity, causing the bridge to open in order to allow it to pass through. Since the bridge opens only 2-3 times each day, we were lucky to witness this considering we did not hang around for too long.

We climbed the steps leading up to the bridge walkway and headed north towards the closest subway stop.

A few stops later and we emerged next to the Parliament building which is home to the famous Big Ben.

Just across the water from Parliament is the super cool-looking London Eye. Although we did not have the opportunity to take a ride, I thought it was pretty awesome that you could actually rent out one of the bubbles and host parties inside as you look out over the city, drink champagne and hang out with your friends. That is something that we will definitely put on our list of future activities.

After we had our share of super touristy attractions, we hopped back on the train and went back to the hotel for a quick nap.  A couple of hours later, we woke up, got dressed and walked back to the nearest Underground station so that we could grab some food.  Once we arrived at the station, we noticed that all of the entrances were blocked off by gates.  There was one gate slightly open, with an employee blocking the opening, so we decided to ask why the train was closed so early.  He broke the unfortunate news that there was “a person under the train.”  Yikes.  He told us that it would be a few more HOURS until the train would re-open (double yikes), so we would have to walk around the corner and catch the bus to Piccadilly Circus.

For dinner, we made our way through Piccadilly and over to Covent Garden and wandered the cobblestone streets until we found a little restaurant on the main square.  A pot of mussels, a bottle of wine and a warm brownie later, and we were already tired and ready to call it a night.  The next morning we would be off to Stonehenge for a photo-shoot and The Fat Duck for a marathon tasting menu, so we needed all the sleep we could get.

A mere two hour train ride away from Brussels, we met up with Lars in Western Germany and spent the weekend catching up before our flight to London. For those of you who don’t know, Lars is our friend who just so happens to be a German movie star. He has been in a bunch of movies and is currently on a show called Unter Uns which is probably the equivalent of Days of Our Lives, but during prime time (people recognize him on the street). Though we had been to Germany many times, it is always nice to go back someplace where you feel comfortable and have favorite shops and restaurants. We made sure to stop at Katie’s favorite shoe store (Kämpgen – where she gets boots every winter), some of our favorite Christmas ornament stores, and of course the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral).

It’s quite a hike up to the top (more than 500 steps) up a very tightly wound spire. The spiral staircase carries people both up and down so you are constantly dodging bodies as you traverse the narrow and worn stairs. Once reaching the top, however, the view is worth it. It’s a breathtaking view over a city that (except for this cathedral) has been almost completely rebuilt since WWII.

Once we climbed down we sat by the river and enjoyed the weather. …It was at this time that we realized there were about a million bachelor and bachelorette parties going on in Cologne. The brides/grooms were of all ages and levels of rowdiness, but a somewhat common ground for everyone seemed to be the Bier Bike. For those of you who have spent summers at the Jersey Shore growing up, perhaps you remember something called a Surrey. It’s basically a multi-person bike (that looks and drives like a car) that is powered by the collective effort of several people. Take the image of a Surrey, elongate it, and add kegs and kegs of beer and ta-da! You have the Bier Bike. I think it’s a pretty great idea but of course it involves drinking in public, which for some reason the US doesn’t allow (I don’t think a “Bier Bike with Brown Paper Bags” has the same effect). In any case, it was a pretty entertaining way to pass the time until dinner.

After eating at a few great restaurants (sushi one night and Thai the next) we caught the fireworks celebrating Dusseldorf’s “Japanese Day”.

Late Sunday night, after a long game of Monopoly (in German, of course), just hours before our Monday morning flight and even less time before Lars was required to be at work, Lars realized that he hadn’t reviewed his lines at all! He had 10 scenes the next day and was completely unprepared. Like any actor would want, we launched a photoshoot to capture his true feelings at this precise moment:

And it was that image of Lars that we left behind as we packed our bags and left for the airport. London was only a short flight away and there was plenty to see and do as we continued our trek around the world. Off to London Town!

So Katie and I made our way from Italy to Brussels just in time for me to be in class with my friends from Duke. Brussels is a great city – very multicultural (3 national languages of Belgium: French, Dutch and German). Of course they are known for their Beer, Chocolates and Waffles, and as expected, I am known for my tendency to over-consume everything I touch (doing the math, you can easily predict that we gained some weight during this stop of the trip).

While we were busy with school, my class made sure to take plenty of time to enjoy the local brews of Belgium. We had a tasting in this local bar and even had the opportunity to go to InBev’s headquarters and see the production lines of Stella Artois (and of course, taste some!). This is clearly proof that drinking beer in school is rather educational.

Another staple of Brussels is its chocolate. I never pass up a good praline, so here I am in Neuhaus enjoying some chocolates they graciously suggested to us. That’s our tour guide (with the beard), a true Belgian who gave us the ins and the outs of the chocolate industry. He adamantly stated that Swiss chocolates have simply copied methods from Belgium and that Neuhaus has the original praline. I can’t argue the facts, but I would like to add that all of them are simply delicious.

And so we come to the third most renowned piece of Brussels – waffles. Belgian waffles have always been a favorite of mine, usually topped with a (very) generous scoop of ice cream. We ended up grabbing waffles at many places throughout the city in attempts to find the best one, but they all seemed to be pretty similar. Nonetheless, waffles are a tremendous ‘snack’ between rounds of chocolate and beer as you walk the streets of Brussels. I would recommend it to anyone.

While our stay in Brussels was the longest, I was so busy with school work that we don’t have too much to post. By the way, thank you Allison for the photos (she’s the one eating the waffle with me)!

The mornings were early (7 AM) and the nights were late (often 3+ AM) but I was extremely happy that Katie finally got to meet my friends from school whom I had talked about endlessly for months and months. I didn’t think any of my friends could handle Katie’s ‘powerful’ personality (she will criticize you until she’s blue in the face) and yet the sarcastic tone seemed to be a uniting force throughout the week.

Whenever we had time, we took short day-trips to Bruges, Antwerp and Leuven since they were all so close to Brussels and soaked in the Belgium culture as much as possible. All in all, we had an amazing week and I was so happy to share it with both Katie and my friends from school. Now fat and happy from my beer, chocolates and waffles, we head off to Germany for more European goodness. Talk to you soon!

One thing I didn’t get a chance to post about while we were in Rome was the Swiss Guard.  For those of you who have seen them (or perhaps have read/seen Angels and Demons) you know that the Swiss Guard is one of the most elite fighting forces in the world… but they dress like… well… you be the judge. So it is with that that I would like to play a little game called “Trained Killer or Ballerina?” I’ll show you a picture and you choose whether or not it is a trained killer or a ballerina. Let’s get started.

Ok, first up we have this guy:

He doesn’t look too much like anything… So what do you think, Trained Killer or Ballerina? Ok that one was easy, he was clearly a ballerina… But now they start to get harder… Alright, let’s try once again:

He looks a lot like the first guy… He’s wearing a beret, has very puffy pants and is very skinny… maybe a court jester or something? …Nope! Trained Killer! Alright how about another:

Alright now this guy is rugged, he’s tough and it looks like he could probably do some damage (you know, for a guy wearing… that outfit). So what do you think, Trained Killer or Ballerina? …Oooh, and he’s a Ballerina. Ok, one more:

Again, this guy looks like he should be playing the fife at the Renaissance Fair, right? …WRONG! One of the world’s elite trained killers in the Swiss Guard.

So I hope the lesson learned here is that you can’t really tell the difference between a ballerina and a trained killer. Next time you walk down the street and see somebody that looks like me (on the lanky side and extremely well dressed – perhaps wearing a tremendous scarf), think twice, he may be the next Chuck Norris.

The second half of our trip to Rome was the perfect medicine after our less-than-relaxing visits to both India and Egypt.  Waking up around 11:00AM without having to worry about what types of bugs might be crawling either in or around the bed was extremely refreshing.  (Not sure if we mentioned this before, but we had a major bug infestation in our hotel room in India that caused both of us to jump onto our couch like little girls and call the front desk for help…not the best.) 

Our second full day in the city was filled with little more than a casual walk through the streets andback to the little cafe we had found the day before.  More gelati, wine and people-watching was pretty much all we had on the agenda since the following day would be filled with a fair amount of exploring, in search of the perfect place to take our wedding photo.  We headed back to the hotel fairly early and indulged in a nap, which turned into a marathon 12-hours of sleep and erased any plans that we had for grabbing dinner. 

We woke up the next morning and prepared for the long day ahead of us.  Not only did we need to visit the inside of the Colosseum and find a good place for our photos, but we still had to venture out to the Vatican since Mike’s inner-Catholic-schoolchild-guilt would most likely eat away at him for years if we did not at least take a walk through St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square.  (I, on the other hand, grew up with a Christmas tree topped with a Star of David – a perfect example of me and my brother’s less-than-religious upbringing.)  We packed our bag with the usual wedding of wonders arsenal (still camera, video camera, tripod, map, water, wedding dress and tuxedo) and ventured out into the warm Rome air.  First stop?  The Colosseum.

Just as we expected, the area surrounding the Colosseum was completely overwhelmed by tourists from all over the world.  We quickly made our way past the souvenir stands and greasy Italian men dressed as gladiators (seriously) and into the long-ish line to buy tickets to see the inside of this colossal structure.  While many of the American tourists (including one super classy 20-something couple from New Jersey) were whining about the somewhat lengthy wait to purchase tickets, the line seemed like a piece of cake to us after all of the waiting that we had done over the past few weeks (airports, bathrooms, restaurants, etc.).  Eventually we purchased our tickets and made our way to the interior portion of the arena. 

To call this structure impressive would certainly be an understatement since the sheer scale of the building coupled with the fact that a large portion of it has really withstood the test of time (had it not been for numerous earthquakes stone-robbers, the majority of the structure would still remain today),  makes for an amazing sight, especially considering it was completed in 80 A.D. 

We made our way throughout the two existing levels of the structure and quickly realized that a photo here 1) would probably be impossible considering the overload of tourists 2) most likely would not capture the impressive size and recognizable features of the structure and 3) could possibly get us escorted out by security.  We snapped a few more photos of the inside and moved onto Plan B – finding a place on the outside where we could change into our outfits and take a good picture without turning into a huge spectacle in front of thousands of tourists.

After leaving the inside of the Colosseum, we made our way to the surrounding area known as the Palatine Hill, where there are numerous ruins as well as ongoing archaeological dig sites.  Since this particular area sits on the hill directly above the Colosseum, we were convinced that we would find at least one good photo location somewhere along the way.  We walked and walked and walked.  Nothing.  Most of the decent spots were either obscured by large trees, overlooked a less-than-stellar view of the Colosseum or were closed off to visitors by large gates and/or “pericolo” (aka danger) signs.  Feeling slightly defeated, we climbed a hidden set of stairs along the path and hoped for something promising once we reached the top.  We were in luck!  We had stumbled upon the back entrance to a fantastic lookout point with views of the Colosseum as well as most of Rome. 

Although this area was also filled with tourists (who somehow got the memo about the great view before we accidentally stumbled upon it in a more haphazard fashion), it was much less crowded than the area directly surrounding the Colosseum itself, so we decided it would be the perfect spot for our photo.  We found a grassy area off to the side (although my dress is slowly getting destroyed, I am trying to avoid dust and dirt as much as possible) and changed into our outfits as inconspicuously as possible.  Once we were in full wedding attire, we spotted a friendly-looking couple and asked them to take a few pictures of us since our tripod was not high enough to reach up over the railing encasing the perimeter of the overlook.  They kindly agreed and took a bunch of pictures as we once again became a spectacle with tourists pointing and snapping pictures of us. 

Once we had the perfect shot, we changed back into our street clothes and made our way to our next location:  Vatican City.  Since my toe was once again giving me issues (ugh), we hopped on the metro and arrived at the “Musei Vaticani” stop in no time.  A quick walk past the main gates and we emerged in the center of St. Peter’s Square. 

Wow.  We never thought we would set foot in a place that rivaled the grandeur and opulence of the Palace of Versailles, but this was certainly a contender.  The Vatican certainly got the memo about marble columns and decided to put them pretty much anywhere they could find room.

We explored the square for a few minutes and then made our way into the line for the metal detectors that would allow us to enter St. Peter’s Basilica.  After passing the security checkpoint, all visitors must then make it past the decency checkpoint.  You probably think I’m kidding, but I’m not.  If you come dressed in anything shorter than capri pants or 3/4 length sleeves, the Vatican decency police will turn you away, thus making you feel like a huge slut.  One girl in front of us was wearing a skirt that was too risque for the church andwas turned away.  She had a black tank top on under her shirt, so she decided to pull it down around her waist so that it would sit below her skirt and would cover the portion of her legs down to her knees.  Although she could barely walk with her shirt pulled down so far, she went back towards the decency policy and made her 2nd attempt at entering the facility.  One of the guys at the door attempted to turn her away again, but then realized that she looked soo utterly ridiculous, that he took pity on her and let her through…laughing at her as she hobbled along like a baby deer.  (I’ll be honest, it was pretty hilarious.) 

Once inside the building, we decided to head over to the Vatican grotto first to see the more than 100 tombs beneath St. Peter’s Basilica.  It was pretty incredible to see one place where so many historical figures (not only past popes are buried here) have been laid to rest.  Perhaps the craziest thing we saw here was the handful of visitors sobbing hysterically over the tomb of John Paul II.  While I understand the importance of religion to many people and the impact that a figure such as the pope has over them; it was incredibly awkward to walk through such an intimate moment in these people’s lives (especially considering there was no other way around them besides walking directly between them and the tomb).  Maybe a private mourning area, away from the main walkway? 

After visiting the grotto, we made our way to the main floor of St. Peter’s Basilica.  Our jaws nearly dropped to the floor when we saw the elaborate artwork, sculptures and marble-work covering every single inch of the basilica.  The space was absolutely enormous and 2 amazing rays of sunlight shining through the windows made it nearly impossible for anyone to enter without feeling a sense of awe regardless of their religious affiliation. 

After a quick walk throughout the exceptionally expansive space (the basilica can hold nearly 60,000 people), we began our trek back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  It had been a long day in the hot, humid air and we were ready for a nice, relaxing dinner. 

Once back at the hotel, we got ready for dinner and traveled down a whopping 2 floors to Vivendo, which was conveniently located in the lobby of the St. Regis.  Dinner was absolutely delicious and was complimented perfectly by the wonderful service and fantastic wine pairings of each course.  The best part of the night was definitely the fact that our room was only a 2 minute walk away, making it very easy to collapse into bed after what ended up being an extremely long (albeit productive) day. 

Our extra two days in Rome was definitely one of the best decisions we have made during this trip.  Although the city is extremely walkable, thus making it easy to see everything very quickly, it was wonderful to take our time and enjoy such a beautiful place with an impressive history of art and culture.  I certainly would not recommend only spending 4 days here, but our visit gave us a taste of what we will see once we return. 

Arrivederci, Rome!  Here we come, Brussels!!!

Ah Italy, a place where people eat ice cream every day, drink like fish and smoke like chimneys yet somehow manage to outlive the US – I thought I had just stepped into heaven. And our first taste of heaven was absolutely our hotel. The St. Regis Rome is, as expected, a portrait of Italian opulence so over-the-top that you continually ask yourself if you magically became royalty. It’s the type of style no one would ever want in their own house, but in a hotel it’s just enough ridiculousness that you really enjoy it. We were even upgraded to a suite so our room had a NAME!

Once we stopped laughing like giddy little children, we made our way out into the city to explore. Being that Rome is such a compact, walkable European city, even Katie’s toe didn’t slow us down too much and we were able to cover most of the city in our first full day. Our first day actually happened to be Republic Day in Italy so there were parades and all sorts of special events.

Unfortunately, this also meant that some of the icons of Rome were closed for the holiday, and significantly more depressing (for someone who will remain nameless), Gucci, Valentino, Dolce & Gabanna and other shopping icons were also closed.

Nonetheless, most of Rome is simply soaking in the beauty and impressiveness of what the Romans were able to accomplish 2000 years ago.

This entire city is basically a giant museum of beautiful art works to be enjoyed from the small cafés peppered throughout the city. It is impossible to look in any direction and not see an amazing building, sculpture or church, so as much as we would love to litter this post with a million photographs (and we do have a lot in store), it just makes more sense to see it yourself.

Our first pass through the city included the big things that no one should miss while here in Rome (also the places most crowded by tourists). The Pantheon, The Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps and countless beautiful Piazzas throughout the city (it would take me all day to list them all). Having just read Angels & Demons, I was looking a little closer for Illuminati imagery as I was walking around (I know, huge nerd).

It was at this point that Katie and I were starting to get a little tired and just wanted to experience the Italian culture. We found a cute little café, ordered a massive gelati, two café lattes and a bottle of red wine (not all at once, this is over a few hours) and watched the people pass by. If anyone was looking for a fun past-time, watching Italian men perv the many women that pass by (for those who don’t know: perv, v.t. to stare at impertinently, flirtatiously, or amorously). It really is quite comical.

It was about this time that Katie and I made the realization (crystallized easily into a phrase by Nick – thank you) that New Jersey really does give Italians a bad name. Apologies to those of you from The Suburb State, but spending my summers at the Jersey Shore in my youth, I have my share of run-ins with people like this guy (children should not watch that video… or read this paragraph…). After speaking with a few locals (who are hard to come by in a tourist metropolis like Rome), people are very very different than the “jacked and tan” variety I grew up with. Don’t get me wrong, there are some stereotypes that are extremely true. For instance, I have seen about a hundred people just like this guy and it really is impossible to try to mock Italian by being loud, oscillating your voice and using your hands – you will just fit in. Those things said, Italian people are just awesome.

After watching the world go by for a few hours we made our way back to our opulent palace of a hotel and called it a night. The rest of Rome had to wait until tomorrow.

So, as you could probably tell from our last entry, our trip to Cairo did not exactly start off on the right foot.  We arrived at the international terminal to dozens of hecklers attempting to coax us over to their various storefronts so that they could rip us off with tours, hotel shuttles, etc.  We did our best to ignore their aggressive tactics and finally found the Budget Rent A Car “office” hidden in the far corner of the arrivals area.  Our rental experience was pretty much the most atrocious thing we have ever encountered since the rental “agent” was chain smoking and talking on his cell phone throughout the entire transaction and made us wait around for nearly an hour while he took his good old time preparing our rental forms (there was no computer, printer or modern technology anywhere in sight, so everything had to be written out by hand).  Once our paperwork was complete, the agent locked the “office” and took us to the airport shuttle so that we could ride 10 minutes to a shady off-site parking lot where the car was parked.  It was completely unnecessary to note the existing damage to the car aside from simply noting that it was the biggest piece of crap on the road.  Since the agent did not have any maps available for customers and laughed at us when we asked if he had a GPS, he offered to have 2 of his friends accompany us for the first part of our drive until we reached the main road that leads to Giza.  We agreed since we did not have much of a choice and watched as two grown Egyptian men squeezed into the one remaining back seat.  Although they were rather friendly, we were beyond frustrated at this point since you really shouldn’t have to bring random strangers with you in order to find your way in a car that you just paid over $200 for.  After about 20 minutes, we dropped off the men in the middle of the highway (as they requested) and continued to our hotel.  The drive was absolutely ridiculous (to say the least) since the highway was a virtual free-for-all between the non-existent driving rules and pedestrians attempting to cross the sprawling lanes of traffic regardless of the various medians and barriers erected to prevent such activity in the first place. 

We finally made it to our hotel, but there was no sense of relief as we had hoped for.  We were greeted by armed guards and bomb-sniffing dogs who had to search our vehicle before we could enter the premises.  Luckily there were no drugs or weapons hidden in our 2003 Daewoo POS and we were ushered past the main gate.  Once inside the hotel, another checkpoint with a metal detector stood between us and the check-in desk, but luckily we made it through without incident.  We checked into the hotel and finally got on the elevator that would finally take us up to a clean, quiet place to decompress.  Or not. 

Although we were placed on a non-smoking floor of the hotel, they must have made the switch fairly recently since our entire room smelled like an ashtray.  Not only that, but the furniture and carpeting appeared to have been purchased from a third world thrift store more than 2 decades  ago and probably hadn’t been washed since.  I looked at Mike (who also looked shocked that Le Meridien would put their name on such a dump) and finally broke down.  Not only did I feel completely vulnerable since we had arrived at the airport, but our hotel  did not offer any amount of calm or comfort to improve the situation.  Mike quickly got on the phone and called Star Alliance.  If there was any possible way to get out of Cairo, we would do it.  Fast. 

After almost an hour on the phone, Mike had us on a flight to Rome the next morning and notified the hotel that we would be checking out early.  I was already having major anxiety about the drive back to the airport the next morning, but I didn’t care.  I just wanted out of Cairo as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, there was one slight problem with our new plan.  Since it was after 4:00pm, the pyramids were already closed for the day and they would not open until 8:00am the next morning.  There was no way for us to take our wedding photos at the pyramids.  We went down to the Concierge and asked if there was any way to get close to the pyramids that night or early the next morning.  He told us that there were 3 “Light and Sound” shows each night (1 each in English, German and French), but that they did not begin until after sunset.  We decided to book the earliest show (which was in German, to Mike’s delight) and keep our fingers crossed that there would be enough light to get our photos.  At 7:45pm, we met the bus in front of the hotel and made our way to the pyramids with our wedding outfits in tow.  Unfortunately, we made it to the pyramids slightly too late and there was not enough light to capture the shots before the show began.  We hoped that the pyramids would remain lit after the show so that we could try to snap some shots of us in the dark, but they turned the lights off immediately after the show.  Bummer. 

The light show itself pretty much cheapened the whole pyramid experience for us.  It started off with a group of men marching out in traditional outfits, playing the bagpipes until the main show began.

The light and sound show itself was a glorified third grade history lesson involving the story of the pyramids and the kings buried beneath them.

It combined projected images (such as a face on the Sphinx) with colored spotlights and laser lights in order to effectively ruin any ideas of grandeur that our teachers instilled in us about the pyramids during our youth.  Oh, and there was a pack of wild dogs that ran in front of the audience during the show as well – nice touch. Long story short…it sucked.  Luckily, we managed to get some decent pictures of the whole area lit up, but there was no opportunity to get a picture of us in front of the pyramids.  Oh well.

The next morning we debated trying to walk as close as we could to the pyramids to get a photo, but the delayed sunrise and heavy fog quickly quashed that idea.  Instead, we snapped a few shots from our balcony and packed our bags (which took about 2 seconds since we had barely unpacked in the first place). 

Luckily we left ourselves plenty of time since it took the garage nearly an hour to find our car.  After paying off 5 guys who were standing around “helping” us, we got in the car, locked the doors and started the drive to the airport.  Somehow we managed to make it back without incident (even without a map, GPS or 2 Egyptian men in the back seat), but once again, we encountered another bump in the road.  The Budget guy was nowhere to be found.  We had called ahead to let him know that we were leaving 2 days early and would arrive at the airport within in the hour, but once we go the office, the door was locked and no one seemed to know where he had gone.  The agent from the Hertz “office” agreed to accompany us to the shady parking lot and fill out our return paperwork (even though he did not work for Budget and had no affiliation with the company at all) since the Budget guy was not around.  He hopped in the backseat of the car, directed us to the parking lot, jotted down our mileage and rode the shuttle with us back to the terminal to complete the “transaction”.  Once we returned to the Budget “office,” the shady “agent” had returned and was back to “work,” talking on his cellphone and chain-smoking cigarettes.  He looked extremely thrilled to see us (NOT) and almost managed to acknowledge us while he chatted to whatever shady friend he had on the phone.  He once again took his sweet time filling out our paperwork even though he knew that our flight was leaving shortly.  After a good 45 minutes of waiting, we finally made it back onto the airport shuttle so that we could check-in at the international terminal.  Free at last!  Or not. 

Once we made it to the check-in counter, the agent told us that they had no record of our tickets.  Fantastic.  She told us to go to the far end of the terminal and ask the ticket desk for our ticket numbers since her records only showed up as “Paper Tickets”.  We ran across the terminal and got in line behind a 70-year-old Egyptian man who didn’t seem to understand that the agent could not accept his wad of cash (that he pulled out from what appeared to be his undergarments) in exchange for a ticket right there on the spot.  Our anxiety was building at this point since we still had to check-in, make it past security and find our gate in a very limited amount of time.  After we talked to the ticketing agent and got our actual ticket numbers, we ran back across the terminal and handed the numbers to the check-in agent.  Still no luck.  She told us to sit down while she called her boss to come over and resolve the problem.  Another 30 minutes or so of waiting and we finally had 2 tickets out of the chaos. 

We ran to the passport counter and waited another 20-minutes for the agent to figure out what a computer was and finally made it to our gate just in time to wait in line for another 15-minutes to get past security so that we could wait in another line for another 20-minutes in order to board the shuttle to the plane.  Once on the plane with the door shut and the wheels up off the ground, we almost felt a sense of relief.  Until the announcement.  A passenger was ill and needed a doctor.  Any doctors or nurses on board should hit their call button and notify the flight crew immediately.  Crap.  With 3 hours of flight time ahead of us and only 30 minutes behind us, we began to worry that we would have to turn around and head back to Cairo.  Please, no.  There was no doctor or nurse on board, but the crew decided to continue onto Rome.  Thank goodness.  We finally caught a break.  Until the puking began.  The sick passenger began vomiting violently for the last 2 hours of the flight.  Although the crew attempted to clean it up and spray as much air freshener as possible, the stench on the plane became almost unbearable as the flight finally began to descend. 

Once we landed in Rome, we parked as far as possible from the terminal and waited for another bus to shuttle us to freedom.  As the passengers loaded onto the bus, things were fairly calm until Queen Pukes A Lot decided it would be a good idea to join us.  Quickly, the same stench that had haunted us for most of the flight filled the shuttle and caused a near riot.  The other passengers, already furious that the flight had been such a disaster, began shouting at the sick woman in Italian, asking her to get off of the bus and take her puke smell with her.  No luck.  Another 15 minutes of the horrible odor and we were at the terminal.  Free at last. 

We made it through customs in record time, collected our luggage, hopped in a cab and arrived at the St. Regis Grand Rome in less than an hour.  Although the hotel is absolutely gorgeous, I didn’t even care at this point.  There was no shady rental car to deal with, no metal detector, no bomb-sniffing dogs and no cigarette smell in our hotel room.  We had clean sheets, a shower without stains from wall-to-wall and finally felt safe in our surroundings.  I love Rome already.