June 21

Today is our free day in Rome. So far, we have just walked around the city and seen the shopping sights. We went into several designer boutiques - Gucci, Valentino, Prada, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, etc. near the Piazza di Spagna, where the Spanish steps are located. I met up with a couple from Greenville, NC who said they graduated from East Carolina around the time my parents did, and they also have a daughter who graduated in 2007, the same year as my brother. They just came up to Avera and me and asked if we were from the U.S. and where. When I said North Carolina, the woman said she thought we were from NC because of my Saint Mary's ring. I told her it was actually a Carolina ring but one of the girls with us, Canaday, went to Saint Mary's. I took a picture of the couple on the Spanish steps. It was so cool to run into people from home all the way here in Rome.

We checked out of our hotel this morning at 10am and we have to meet back there at 10:45pm tonight to take a night train to Genova. From Genova, we will take a bus to Monaco to see Princess Grace's palace, and then we will head to Nice. I just found out this morning about the 3 hour (!) bus ride, and I've already been regretting the fact that I didn't bring any books with me from France. Fortunately, I saw a book stand at the Republica today and Canaday found me an English book! I couldn't be too selective because there was just the one Canaday found and then several George Orwell books. I'll be reading The Other Woman's Shoes by Adele Parks for the next couple of days.