I slept a good amount on the plane. I did have a middle seat but there was nobody to my left so I got to scoot over! I think sitting in a plane for that long takes years off your life span. My spine was so compressed and I woke up in pain in my neck and back and legs. I'm happy with the amount I slept but unhappy with how much pain it causes.
**My favorite part of all long haul flights is mid flight stretchies.** This is when you stand up walk to an open area and do a full yoga flow. It usually draws eyes but who's laughing now? The people with scoliosis or being yoga limber and increasing your life span?
I realized I had a 7 hour layover in Rome and rushed to the train. I caught the train at 15:08 and took it to the coliseum I had to get off the train and transfer to the metro. As I got off the bustling train a thought occurred to me. **Taking the public transport in a foreign country and foreign language really helps develop neural plasticity and problem solving skills.**
In the ten minutes since getting off the train I had to take in vast amount of information and quickly figure out my way while also watching out. This mental exercise I believe is very beneficial for young minds. It's a Monday and I "should be" working in an office. However it's funny I've used my brain 10x more in the past ten minutes adapting and problem solving than I had as an electrical engineer for two years.
I got to the coliseum and it was pretty cool. Walking through such old history really puts the timeline of human existence into perspective. Rome is cool in the sense that it's a modern city just scattered with ancient ruins. It kinda reminds me of the old city of Jerusalem.
Next I wandered the streets more and made it to the famous fountain. This was probably my favorite site. It was really beautiful and in pristine condition. There were so many tourists though. Next I walked to the pantheon took a pic and was ready to eat. I had a beer and water and chips at a restaurant in a nice plaza.
At this time when I just sat back and relaxed I realized that this is awesome! I then got amazing kinder and Oreo gelato for 3 euros. I felt it was a must to have pasta so I finally ate cacio e Pepe at a place. Honestly I did not think I would be able to leave the airport let alone explore Rome fully.
I made my way back to the train station. Note I did this all without phone connection which I was pretty happy about. I used the maps and spatial awareness to get me to and from the places I needed. At the airport I got grilled pretty hard by the El Al security guy. He did his job diligently and it was fun getting questioned. I'm waiting for my flight to the Holy Land now!
