In Italia, the Flight, etc.

I managed, through faith and due diligence, to beat jet lag!  It is 2:22 here and I am feeling fine.  Apparently today is the Vita la Forza Militaria, so there was a large military parade and it was rather exciting!  But I'm sure that you're just DYING to know how the flight was.....we had a traffic jam on the runway and turbulence (which I managed to half sleep through) and after that the smallest of all airplane meals that would not have suited a midget.  In the intrest of time I will spare you the details of the trip over, but when we got to Rome and were on the subway, we found that because of the parade the stops that we needed were closed and so we proceeded to mash our way through literally thousands of people.  I was about three feet away from the Italian President (just pure happenstance) and my roommate TJ actually shook his hand as he rushed through the crowd.  Now I am all showered and clean, still hungry as a bear, but I'll live.  There is much more to come on this exciting journey.  I cannot wait to see more!  Hope all is well back in the States, for all is certainly well here.  Sidenote: I realized how much I took for granted brushing my teeth as often as I wanted to...you sure can't do that on an international flight.  Now with my fedora in hand and a Camelback on my, well, back, I leave you!  I'll try to write upon our return tonight, if that is not possible tomorrow for sure! -Z