Every great time must come to an end, and for me that end is
tomorrow. I’m heading back to the States, happy to be heading home to see loved
ones and great friends, sad that my time exploring new things is over. The past
few days have been kind of a whirlwind.
Saturday morning began with a morning car ride to a bus
terminal in Termoli. The Campomarino house is all closed down for the
offseason, with anything of value heading inside until next summer. Thank you
to my neighbor Fernando for the ride into Termoli. It was much appreciated. Flash
forward five hours, and I was getting on a shuttle outside of Roma Fiumicino
Airport heading to the Marriott. It was my birthday, and the Marriott desk
agent recognized it was my birthday, so she upgraded my room, and had a fancy
dessert sent to my room. I went out on the town for dinner, but headed back
because I had a 3:15 wake up time to get to the Roma Ciampino airport the next
morning.
Sunday started off early. I had a few hours of sleep, and
was able to sleep on the plane. So when I got to London, I hit the ground
running. I had prepared a list of places and things I wanted to do each day,
and day one I completed the list. I ended the night trying different gins at
The Shakespeare Pub. 
Monday was a much easier, later wakeup time I got a nice
night of sleep, and was able to have an English breakfast of Eggs Benedict
before heading to Harrod’s Department Store, The British Museum, the London
Eye, and even went to see a musical, “Bat Out of Hell,” which is based off of
Meat Loaf songs. It was really good, and I got to see it pre-Broadway. The
drawback to seeing the show is that I had to be up at 2 am to catch a coach bus
out to the Stansted Airport, which was about an hour and a half from my hotel.
I made the 3 am bus, slept most of the way, and waited for the gate
announcement. Stansted has a large waiting area, and about 40 minutes before
the flight, they announce the gate. Basically they announce the gate just
before they are ready to board. It was surprisingly organized. 
Today, I spent the day in Rome. Wanting to keep with the
theme of doing something new, I headed to Piazza Navona Underground. It is an
excavated section of the old stadium that sat where Piazza Navona, my favorite
Roman square, now sits. It’s ancient ruins, but it was still neat to see. The
site opened to the public four years ago, but I haven’t been spending too many
days there over the past few years, as we were flying to Milan for the cost
savings. This year, Rome was cheaper so I had the time in Rome to see the site.
I also saw the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Forum,
St. Peters Square, and the Bridge of Angels.
This summer had some very relaxing times on the beach, and I
accomplished my goal of writing two scripts. Coupled with the two and a half
books I’ve read, it was pretty productive way to recharge the batteries.
Tomorrow morning I head back to New Jersey, with a layover in Atlanta on the
way.
