Day one - we arrived in Rome after a stop in London to transfer to a flight to Rome. Heathrow Airport is an adventure in itself; we had to disembark the plane the old-fashioned way - via steps down to the tarmack and then a walk into the terminal building. Who knows where we are - just follow the crowd. Oh... one important detail; you can only have ONE piece of luggage/bag in the airport. So we stop to stuff our handbags into our carry on pieces. After a bus trip and what seems to be miles of walking we arrive at the security station. Through that we now locate our terminal for our next leg. OK... not going to tell us until 30 minutes before the flight; I guess things are pretty tight here. When our gate is announced we scurry there to find a room filled with people. How did they get there ahead of us? And yes, we have the privelege of being searched and our bags looked through. Onto the plane... pilot announces that a passenger did not show up for the flight, but her luggage did. This means the luggage has to be removed. So sit tight we have a wait. Ready finally and off we go.
Rome. Here's the plan....pick up our bags, get some Euros, and meet our driver who will take us to our hotel, Hotel Italia. We were ready to begin this adventure. We arrived in baggage our driver was waiting for us so I went to find him, which meant that I had to exit the area (and couldn't return). I found the driver, no inglese!, of course. He was irritated and iIwas sweating from every pore on my body!!! we waited about 45 min. and then Sheryl came out. Apparently, when they removed the missing passenger's luggage ... they did and some other passengers as well. not only Sheryl's, but a family group with 4 small children - you get the picture.
Rome. Here's the plan....pick up our bags, get some Euros, and meet our driver who will take us to our hotel, Hotel Italia. We were ready to begin this adventure. We arrived in baggage our driver was waiting for us so I went to find him, which meant that I had to exit the area (and couldn't return). I found the driver, no inglese!, of course. He was irritated and iIwas sweating from every pore on my body!!! we waited about 45 min. and then Sheryl came out. Apparently, when they removed the missing passenger's luggage ... they did and some other passengers as well. not only Sheryl's, but a family group with 4 small children - you get the picture.
Our driver was dressed like a character player from Sopranos - black slacks, shirt, white tie, slicked back black hair, black sunglasses... the minute we exited the terminal he lit up a cigarette. He led us to a black Mercedes coupe, we climbed in, and away we sped to Roma.
We arrived at the hotel and can only think about taking a cool shower (it's about 7 pm). nice hotel, small, friendly, but... the shower opening was only big enough for a kate moss type. Imagine us squeezing through this opening each time we had to shower. We made it though (however, Sheryl is still having to wear her plane attire of sweat pants and long sleeved shirt!) and we left the hotel to explore the neighborhood. Luckily a restaurant was just outside our hotel. Our first meal in Rome - not exactly fine cuisine, but the wine was great. After we enjoyed our dinner, we stroll along Via Nazionale to check out our neighborhood. We discovered a great gelateria close to our hotel and savored our first bowl. As we sat on a bench, a local homeless man walked up to a shop window near us, swept off the debris, and settled down for a cigarette and a good night's sleep. Ah... Roma! Back to our hotel - sleep is on the menu.
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