Allison & I at dinner in Rome
I said goodbye to our staff and students in Munich and boarded a plane for Rome, where I met my sister Karen and roommate Allison for some vacation time in Italy! I was a bit nervous about flying by myself to a country I've never been to. After our team accidentally flew to Siberia a year and a half ago, I'm always a bit weary of flying to a new place, half expecting to land in the wrong place! Karen and Allison's plane arrived early that morning, so I had to ride by myself to the hotel. I wasn't too excited about that, especially since Taken was a popular movie this summer!
As I'm coming out of baggage claim, I see a short Italian man carrying a sign with "Mr. Howell" on it and my hotel. :) I make my way over to him and in broken English he askes me if I'm the only one he's picking up. He then takes my bag and we head out to the car. All my fears melted away on the ride into the city, as Ludvic begins to ask me if I speak Italian. I tell him only English and French, and he tells me I've entered Italian school (his car) and he'll be teaching me Italian on the ride in if I teach him English! So there we are, driving around Rome with him speaking fluent Italian, mixed with French, and me replying in English and French. It was one of the funniest encounters with someone I've ever had and quite possibly my favorite memory of Italy. As we drive into Rome, he drives me all around the sites and explains (in Italian of course) the history behind each site. So, for the rest of my trip, I was constantly realizing, "Oh, that's what he meant" when we toured the famous sites and I read the history in English! But, as always, it's great to meet the locals because he pointed me to some great areas of Rome where he loves to eat (Trastevere). Overall, meeting Ludvic was one of those times God reminded me how worried I was about something and showed me how His provision was so much better than I could have even asked for!
On our last day in Rome, we ran into him again as he was dropping off some guests at the hotel. I said hello to him and he jumped out of his van with a "Bonjourno, signora!". Actually, he jumped out so fast he forgot to put the car in park, and as he was greeting me with a kiss on each cheek, his car began to inch backwards towards the hotel wall! He jumped back in in time to avert any damage to his car, don't worry!
As I'm coming out of baggage claim, I see a short Italian man carrying a sign with "Mr. Howell" on it and my hotel. :) I make my way over to him and in broken English he askes me if I'm the only one he's picking up. He then takes my bag and we head out to the car. All my fears melted away on the ride into the city, as Ludvic begins to ask me if I speak Italian. I tell him only English and French, and he tells me I've entered Italian school (his car) and he'll be teaching me Italian on the ride in if I teach him English! So there we are, driving around Rome with him speaking fluent Italian, mixed with French, and me replying in English and French. It was one of the funniest encounters with someone I've ever had and quite possibly my favorite memory of Italy. As we drive into Rome, he drives me all around the sites and explains (in Italian of course) the history behind each site. So, for the rest of my trip, I was constantly realizing, "Oh, that's what he meant" when we toured the famous sites and I read the history in English! But, as always, it's great to meet the locals because he pointed me to some great areas of Rome where he loves to eat (Trastevere). Overall, meeting Ludvic was one of those times God reminded me how worried I was about something and showed me how His provision was so much better than I could have even asked for!
On our last day in Rome, we ran into him again as he was dropping off some guests at the hotel. I said hello to him and he jumped out of his van with a "Bonjourno, signora!". Actually, he jumped out so fast he forgot to put the car in park, and as he was greeting me with a kiss on each cheek, his car began to inch backwards towards the hotel wall! He jumped back in in time to avert any damage to his car, don't worry!
thats a great story! and love the new pics you posted! sounds like an amazing time.
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