Money Saving Mom®

If you missed my other trip posts, read the Day #1 recap, the Day #2 recap, and the Day #3 recap.

Day #4 of our Epic Trip to Italy and Israel with the Museum of the Bible was an exciting day — we were flying to Israel and we couldn’t be more thrilled!

We had to split into two groups for the flights… and gratefully, I ended up with the later group that didn’t need to leave until 8:45 a.m. 🙂

The lounge at the airport was amazing — probably the nicest airport lounge I’ve ever been in (of course, I’m too cheap to actually pay for an airport lounge pass when I’m traveling, so I don’t have a lot of different airport lounges to compare this one, too. 🙂 Our hosts took such great care of us on this trip and flew us Business Class everywhere — so the lounge passes were included at all the airports!)

I may have let out a little squeal when I saw that there was not only a barista at the lounge and I could get my favorite Cafe Latte, but that they also had doughnuts. I know, I know… we are in ROME and on our way to ISRAEL and here I am geeking out about doughnuts.

But sometimes, it’s the little things. Also, doughnuts are right up there with pancakes in being some of the best food ever invented, in my book! 🙂

We left the hotel in Italy at 8:45 a.m. and arrived at our hotel in Jerusalem at around 5:45 p.m. — it was a long travel day, so this amazing hotel room couldn’t have been more welcoming.

{Yes, there was a TV in the bathroom mirror. I turned it on just to take a picture. I never had a moment to watch TV the whole trip, but it was cool to take a picture of it!!}

I was pretty blown away at the accommodations! But seeing as we were going to be going-going-going-going while in Israel, I was SO grateful for this room to come back to at night for the 4 nights we stayed in Jerusalem.

Interesting side note: We were actually supposed to stay at a different hotel across the street, but they moved us at the last minute because Vice President Biden came into town and was staying there for the first two days so we couldn’t stay there while he was there (I’m not sure if they cleared the entire hotel or if they just needed some of our rooms or what, but it was kind of fun to know that we got “booted” from our hotel because of him!)

After a fancier dinner where we heard more about the Museum of the Bible (I was SO impressed with it and cannot WAIT until it’s open so our family can go!) and also had a lively discussion about politics with Michael Oren (he’s an American-born Israeli historian, author, politician, former ambassador to the United States, and current member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party), I headed to my room to catch up on some work and get to bed before a big day in Israel the next day.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a l-o-n-g post about our first full day in Israel!

Have you ever been to Israel before? If not, what would you love for me to blog about my trip there? Let me know in the comments!

If you missed my other trip posts, read the Day #1 recap and the Day #2 recap. 

Day #3 of our Epic Trip to Italy and Israel with the Museum of the Bible started rough. I spent most of the night lying in bed looking at the fronts of my eyelids unable to fall asleep (hello, jet lag!).

I finally fell asleep and then woke with a start at 6:30 am… And realized the two alarms I had set never went off and I needed to be down in the lobby ready for the day by 7:10 am. Yikes! So much for washing and blow drying my hair!

Instead, of washing my hair, I sported Day #2 of the I-Really-Need-To-Wash-My-Hair messy updo look. It worked and it allowed me to be down in the lobby with my eyes open and my brain semi-functioning.

The reason we had to be up and out the door so early was because our hosts had secured a private tour of the Sistine Chapel for us. From what we were told, this was a very special honor. And judging from the crowds of people who were lined outside waiting to get in after we got there, it truly was.

We weren’t allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel, but I can tell you that it was breath-taking and inspiring… especially to be looking at such amazing artwork in person!

We spent most of the rest of the morning at the Vatican Museum. It was almost overwhelming — especially in my sleep-deprived and hungry state (I had made the mistake of not eating that morning in my rush to get out the door on time!)

There was SO much to look at. So much artwork. So many ornate ceilings. So many paintings. So many plaques and interesting artifacts. It was almost mind-boggling and hard to take it all in.

Then we headed to St. Peter’s Basilica (again, whoa!!) for a short while before walking to lunch. I was SO hungry by then — after skipping breakfast and all of that walking and standing.

We went to a local restaurant and I was the woman who boldly ordered TWO cafe lattes + a huge cheese pizza. I was famished and tired and it was just what I needed! And it pretty much tasted like the best coffee and pizza I’d ever had after all that walking, the sleepless night, and the early morning!

Our lunch table was made up of an even mix of Jews, Catholics, and Protestants and we had such great discussions… it was beautiful to see people from differing faith backgrounds come together on this trip to learn from each other, listen to one another, and love each other well — in spite of theological differences and beliefs.

We only took a few group shots on the trip, but this was one of my favorites! Such a diverse group of people with so much collective experience and wisdom and insight to share!

We had planned to walk back from lunch to the bus and then head back to our hotel. The bus was about a 20-minute walk away and, a few minutes into the walk, it started pouring rain. It was windy and freezing and our umbrellas did little to shield us from the blowing rain.

We took shelter in a cafe and waited for the rain to die down and the bus to drive to a closer location. By the time the rain let up, we were all freezing and wet and tired… and I was so ready to get back to the hotel.

We had an option of going to the Coliseum or going to the hotel. I would have loved to see the inside of the Coliseum, but I knew that if I was going to last for 7 more days at this intense pace, I needed sleep, rest, and quiet.

So I opted to stay back at the hotel and skip the Coliseum and dinner and just ordered room service and enjoyed “introverting” in my hotel room for the afternoon and evening. It was just what I needed to cap out our time in Rome and prep to fly to Israel the next day!

{See? Even on this whirlwind trip, I tried to remember I am observing a Year of Rest. I think that prioritizing a few blocks of time throughout the trip for self-care really was key in allowing me to survive such a fast-paced and stretching schedule for 10 days!}

My mom texted me and asked if I was getting enough to eat… I texted her back this picture of my room service cart and she texted back something about “Well, I guess I don’t need to worry about THAT!” 🙂

I was so honored to get to go on a 10-day trip with a group of influencers, hosted by the Museum of the Bible.

I had high hopes and big visions of being able to blog and Periscope on the trip, but between our jam-packed itinerary, jet lag, very long days and short nights, and somewhat sporadic internet, I spent all of my spare minutes catching up with my family, taking care of basic business details, and sleeping.

I arrived back home late last night and am SO glad to be home. But I’m also so grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip. I was stretched. I met very interesting people who have done amazing things with their life. I had many highs and lows. And I came home inspired, re-energized, and ready to fully embrace life.

Over the next few days, I wanted to give you all a recap of our trip. There’s no way I could share everything we did, everything we learned, or everything I felt, but I want to try to give you a glimpse into what the journey was like…

I left on Saturday the 5th to fly to Munich and then to Rome. It was my first time in Germany — it was only for a layover, but that has to count for something, right? 😉

One thing I instantly noticed in Munich was how quiet it was at the airport. People seemed so polite and the whole airport almost felt eerily silent — even though there were a lot of people there. Either it was just too early in the morning or Americans are a whole lot louder and talkative than Germans. 😉

I struggled to sleep on the flights over and only ended up getting about an hour of sleep total, so I was thankful to get some good, strong coffee at the airport!

We landed in Rome and met up with some of our group and then headed to our hotel to have a few hours to rest, relax, and get ready for the busy days ahead.

I was grateful to get in a short power nap before we met up with all of the group in the lobby and headed out to see all sorts of historical sites and hear more about the history of Rome.

The group of folks on the trip was very diverse as far as religious beliefs and backgrounds go and I quickly realized that was going to add a very interesting flair to the trip. We got to be exposed to so many differing beliefs and viewpoints and it really made things much more interesting and thought-provoking, as a result.

My favorite part of the first evening was getting to see the Coliseum. After reading about it and seeing pictures of it for so long, getting to actually see it in person was thrilling.

I guess I knew that Rome is a city rich with history, but I never really grasped what it would be like to be met with so many buildings and monuments and parts of old buildings at every turn. It was so interesting to see the layers of buildings and how buildings have been built upon each other over the years.

The richness of history, the stories that took place here, the famous landmarks all around us… it was almost overwhelming.

After walking the streets and feeling pretty chilled from the rain, our last stop before dinner was the Trevi fountain. There were LOTS of people there, so I never ended up getting a good picture, but it was fun to see. We ate dinner as a group at a very authentic Italian restaurant and then walked back to the hotel after 10 p.m.

I quickly realized that this trip was going to be much more fast-paced and high intensity than I realized. I knew it was going to be full, but I didn’t realize that we were going to be gone all day long and going really, really intensely all day long. I also didn’t realize how much we were going to be walking or how cold it was going to be at times.

I decided that I needed to make sleep and self-care a priority instead of getting in the blogging and scoping I’d hoped to do. I knew that that was the only way I was going to survive (and hopefully — mostly — thrive) 10 days of going, going, going with a large group of people whom I didn’t really know.

I crashed into bed around midnight — exhausted from only getting around 3 hours of sleep over the last 30 hours. The adventure had just begun…

…To be continued tomorrow.