The Adventures of the Snow Gazelles Come to an End

*note: please excuse the suggestive language below, it is relevant and pretty entertaining, I promise*

Our last meal out in Rome consisted of all the Italian culinary staples: pasta, pizza, and wine. We were considering heading out to a bar for a glass of wine before officially ending our stay in Rome, so I went to the bathroom while we waited for our bill. Little did I know this would spark funny and embarrassing banter with our waiter. Allow me to re-create the encounter.

- I ask where the bathroom is, then have trouble finding one that is clean and usable. I am finally directed to one I can use and the waiter tells me, "Call me if you need help... Or just call me anyway."

- As soon as I return to the table he asks, "How was it? The first time is always the best, you know."

- He proceeds to ask where I am from, to which I answer Texas, prompting him to say, "Oh, so you're a cowgirl, eh? I could be your cowboy."

- I laugh and go back to the conversation at the table as we try to decide where to go for some wine. The waiter overhears us and offers some wines from the restaurant that are popular and not very expensive.

- We end up ordering a bottle for the table. The waiter removes the cork and offers it to me, acting surprised when I take it by saying, "Oh, you like the small ones? I have a bigger one." I proceed to blush profusely and take a drink from my glass. He takes the cork back and goes off to write something on it.

- I must have blushed 10 times throughout the course of this conversation, but I couldn't help playing along at the end. I wrote a little note at the end thanking him for the good service and sending him "besos from Madrid"

- As we walk out of the restaurant, he says he's sad we're leaving, carefully adding that he will be working until 10 that night and the next day as well.

Let's just say my friends did not let me hear the end of it for the rest of our trip back to the hostel.

Our last adventure of the day consisted of arriving at the airport on time for our 6am flight. We did not book our last night at the hostel because we planned on taking a 4:30am bus from the city center to the airport. However, after our unpredictable bus experience from the day before, we were afraid the bus would 1). not show up, or 2). take an unacceptably long time to travel to the airport, both of which would mean we would not leaving Rome on our flight. By Sunday, however, everyone felt the same way and all the taxis to the airport were booked. Our second option was to take a combination of metro/bus to the airport and arrive obscenely early at the airport for our flight (metros close at 11:30pm, so we'd arrive at the airport at 1am at the latest). Our local contact in Rome worked incessantly to get a reliable driver who could accommodate the 5 of us- which at least eliminated our need to wait for 5 hours at the airport. She also didn't feel comfortable having us waiting alone at the airport, without sleep or food, for so long, so she graciously offered her home to us in order to sleep for a few hours before leaving.

As I have mentioned before, she was a blessing in disguise for our trip and I am sure we will never be able to repay her enough.

All in all, Rome was an unforgettable experience. I traveled with really great people and met some equally great people while I was there (holla Argentina!).

Thank you again to everyone who made it as great as it was - next stop: Lisbon, Portugal!