And reality slaps us hard in the face

And every great journey comes to an end.....

So tomorrow we head for home. After a lovely breakfast at the hotel in the gorgeous dining room, we stroll about town for some last remembrances of this wonderful city.

The daily breakfast here was a feast we enjoyed daily. 

And we meet our driver Giacomo who takes for the three hour journey back to Rome. Along the way, we stop at several little towns and the Pope's summer Villa.

And then we are at the Rome Airport Courtyard Marriott. We say good bye to Giacomo who was fantastic. He was humorous, knowledgable, and quite the conversationalist. He became a good friend.

I have stayed at Marriott's for the better part of 20 years and have gotten familiar with the Courtyard and figured it was a great place to spend the night and have some breakfast before catching the shuttle to the airport. Most of the Courtyards have been refitted and very nice places for business travelers. 

This one is a throw back to the 1960's. especially coming from the elegance of the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, this was a shock to the system. We did get upgraded to a room with a view and a balcony.

Reference back the first picture in this post.

Yep its time to come home. We have so thoroughly enjoyed Italy and have a long list of things we want to do next time. The country is far smaller than I had thought and distances are covered quickly especially by train. Driving would be a breeze if you have ever driven in Los Angeles, New York, or Boston. Yeah you have to watch out for scooters here as they are plentiful and utilize space between vehicles as a freeway. The country is so different from the North down to the South. In such a short spance you have the Alps, forests, Napa like valleys, and coast line, modern city, ancient civilizations, and lots and lots of warm openly joyful people.

So we say Arrivederci Italy, until we see you next.