Day 1
Temperature: ~23°C
Local Time: 10:30pm
Buonasera!
After many hours of flying, multiple stopovers (Kuala Lumpur and Dubai) and soooo many aeroplane meals, I have made it to the first stop of my Italian adventure - Rome. We landed at sunset, which cast a beautiful golden light over the already stunning countryside. It was just as expected, with tiny towns encircling winding roads, which ran between perfectly laid out fields of yellow, gold or various shades of green. Snow-capped mountains glistened a golden-pink colour above a small patch of fluffy white clouds. There was hardly cloud in the sky, except for a faint wisp here or there. Hopefully it stays like this!
After leaving the plane and following the crowd into the transfer monorail to the main terminal, we were greeted by the lovely sounds of a crowded Passport Control. Long non-EU Passport lines, if you could call them that, and only four of the ten booths open made for a great start. Don't you just love passport control! Tired and pushy people, crying children ... ahh, the joys. With no ropes to guide passengers into lines it seemed people were just moving into any available "gap" and forming a crowd, right up to the yellow lines of security where they split into three queues. Each time another plane landed a new flood of people would arrive, who would try to simply flow into the middle of the chaos. Needless to say people were on edge. As the flood of new passengers arrive the people on the outside of the crowd would huddle as close together as possible. Much like empire penguins huddling for warmth during a blizzard, they would face their back to the in-coming queue-hoppers, forming a barrier. Good luck to you if you decided to simply stand on the outside of the group. "The line starts back that way!" and "You can't start here, go back!" were commonly heard around the crowd.
Eventually as the line grew into the preceding corridor, the floods of people died down, and the 'crowd' actually started to move. Let's just say the time spent navigating through Melbourne football crowds was well spent. As there were no actual lines, you need to be sly, moving quickly and silently into any gap you could find ahead of you. If you simply stood still and were 'nice', you didn't move, evidenced by the lovely Australian family who simply let the people in, and were still standing basically were we had all started when I finally made it through the gates.
The hour of waiting to move through Passport control was not wasted! It meant the bags were ready to grab off Baggage carousel 7 when I arrived. No traumatic waiting for your bag to come along that converor belt, constantly wondering whether it actually did make it to your final destination or whether it has been lost in the crazy world of baggage handling. No sir-ee!
"Is that it? No. Is that is? Omg my bag is lost forever, I just know it.... oh wait, that's it! Horary! Holiday saved!"
It's amazing how incredibly happy the sight of one bag can make you. I get so excited I jump around a little, I could quiet happily break out into a victory dance of sorts, if the threat of being taken by security to have my mental status checked (who knows if I would actually pass!) or, let's face it, the total embarrassment of being the person that victory dances because their luggage arrives. Anyway, slightly off topic...
So, thanks to passport control the anguish of waiting for my luggage was avoided (yay!) and it was smooth sailing straight through the taxi spruikers, and into the next (legit) taxi in line. If you're looking for a legit taxi over here, it's plain white with a small "TAXI" sign above it. If the sign is illuminated, it's free (same as Australia), if not, move on! In Rome you can get a Taxi from the airport to anywhere in the city centre for €48. The taxi driver doesn't need to put on the meter, and shouldn't (so if they do say you're only going to the city centre), and you're off! It's great! The taxi was fantastic, with huge windows that took up most of the door. You could take in as much of this amazing city as possible! (Well as much as I could see in the dark anyway). Zooming along the freeway was amazing! Let's just saying I think the speed limit of 110 is just a guide or recommendation, as are the dotted lane lines. Oh and indicators are only if you wish to actually leave the freeway or enter it. If you wish to move between 'lanes', no worries! If you haven't yet picked a lane or can't decide which one you want to use (that's me, all the time!), don't stress! Just go half and half until you have! No drama. Thankfully as it was night time so the streets were relatively empty (except for the hundreds of cars squished along the curbs. Much like Paris, if there's a space along the curb and you feel like your car will fit, you can park there).
The driver was very nice and once we were closer to the hotel he started talking about the area. Out hotel, Il Cantico, sits within walking distance of Vatican city, in the shadows of the great "atican Church". As we rounded a corner, there it was. The great dome of the church, lit up like a statue. It was beautiful! A fantastic green-blue colour, with a great sense of grandeur. It was captivating to say the least.
After about 25 minutes we arrived at the hotel. It is a nice, obviously new hotel, with simple, yet functional, rooms. It is here that I will start my tour with Trafalgar on Wednesday night, with the welcome dinner.
Time for bed! Exhausted! Looking forward to waking up in the eternal city tomorrow, ready to explore!
M
Below - pictures of dinner at Il Cantico Restaurant.
From chef. Not sure what it is - but yum! Was slightly like a small toasted spinach sandwich and a cream cheese that had capers finely sliced through it... I think.
Smoked tuna carpaccio (over lettuce)
Sounds great Megan. can't wait to hear all about Rome! X Mandy
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