Rome 1: the flight over & England

Last night, 3 planes, 27 hours & a sleepless night in London's Gatwick airport, I arrived in Kansas City. Luke picked me up and we immediately hit up Chili's for a burger (Sadly, it's true. I wanted a burger and Chili's somehow was what I wanted. Luke laughed at me, but was gracious about the whole experience).

I don't really know what to share or where to begin with this trip, so I've decided to share it in a few installments...



To save some cash, I decided to fly over to London and then catch a regional airline to Rome, EasyJet (think Southwest airlines with annoyingly-bright orange clad flight attendants). As a result, I had an 8 hour layover on my way to Rome.... and a 12 hour on my return (more in a latter post). Rather than spend a lame afternoon at the airport's Starbucks, I spontaneously took a train into London to take a look around.



Though not entirely sure what I saw, it was a great afternoon; definitely the right way to start the trip. Here are a few of my favorite pictures...

!ROMA!

For those of you who have not heard (i.e. all you blog-stalkers out there. all 2.4 of you), I am going back to Rome in a few weeks. I will be there for 7 days with a 3 day self-guided adventure into Tuscany (which I have yet to plan...).

Last summer, I lived in Rome with 5 friends for 7 weeks. 3 guys, 3 girls including 1 pregnant married couple... who found out they were pregnant 2 weeks into the trip (Jess was a saint to endure both us & Rome for her first trimester)... all in a 900 sq. ft. apartment. Yes, Micah and I definitely shared the pullout couch in the living room. We were there to connect with friends from Origins Rome and try to get a feel for what God was doing in Rome.


About a month ago, I found out that Zak (husband to Jess) was heading back to Rome with another group but for a shorter amount of time. Upon hearing the news, I immediately called him asking/demanding that I be allowed to join them. His response: make it happen! take off work and buy your ticket!

So I did.


I'll try to post some pictures or share some stories once I'm back, but for now, I'll wet your palette:

Highlight of Death Cab

Ending their 5-song encore with Transatlanticism. Nothing less than magical.

It was a lot like this... except in Kansas City... outside... and way way cooler live...