 |
| View from our Rome Flat on the Inner Courtyard |
We are escaping the election noise again! Voted as "walk-ins" on October 8 before LEAVING THE COUNTRY! Our trip is to Rome for 4 nights then two back to back cruises. The first is Rome to Rome and the second is Rome to Fort Lauderdale - both on the Noordam.
The flights to Rome did not start off well. We sat at the gate in San Diego - seated and ready to take off - for an hour and twenty minutes due to "weather" in San Francisco. Having lived in the Bay Area, we know that "weather" at SFO can mean anything from dense fog to four drops of rain. When we arrived a little over an hour late, it was sunny and beautiful so "who knows?" Our first bit of luck was that our gate was directly adjacent to the walkway to the International Terminal - PLUS - I had purposely booked our next flight with over two hours of leeway.
The next flight was a non-stop to Frankfurt on a 747. This flight left 45 minutes late but our arrival in Frankfurt was on time - again proving the airlines have lots of "fudge factor" in their schedules. Our second stroke of good luck was that we both had empty seats next to us on the SFO to FRA flight. United's Economy Plus is also a big help - the extra few inches of leg space makes a lot of difference - less of a feeling of having been folded into unnatural positions for 12 hours.
Next was the Lufthansa flight to Rome - the connection in Frankfurt was fairly easy and the flight left on time. The plane was an Air Bus - but as big a jet as I have seen in a narrow body design - 6 seats across and we were in row 35 with many rows behind us. I'd guess 275 seats! Getting luggage in Rome took forever. The luggage came off in spurts and I was about to go to the lost luggage desk when the woman next to me told me not to worry. She flies to Rome frequently from Germany and said that they don't usually lose luggage but they are very slow. She was right!
The price for cabs to Rome is regulagted - 45 Euros. We read that an arranged limo is the same price so we had someone waiting for us with a sign - this was great so we did not have to hassle the taxi line after the long day. Got to our apartment in Rome near the Vatican by 4pm.
The apartment is on the 7th floor with an ancient elevator that goes to the 6th! The owner grew up in the apartment below where her daughter and husband now live. Our flat is one floor above - it is smaller but very nice - light, cross ventilation, one bedroom, dining, living room, basic kitchen. The owner lives in Chester, England with her British husband. She has been very helpful and easy to deal with on all of the details.
Our neighborhood is near the Vatican - and a few streets from the entrance to the Vatican Museum. Our street is quiet and without tourist mobs. Being on an inner courtyard, the apartment is very quiet. 50 meters from the door is a grocery store and within a few blocks we have everything from banks to buses to trams to restaurants. Yesterday we walked around the Piazza Navonna area and were reminded of the chaos that is "tourist" Rome. We were very happy to return to our quiet neighborhood where it feels like "real" Romans live.
With jet lag still nipping at our heels, the first day did not start until noon and that was only because we had tickets for the Borghese Museum from 1 to 3pm. This museum is not to be missed and due to its size and popularity they only allow a certain number of people in for 2 hours of viewing. The lines were long even with advance reservations and despite signs telling people that the next available tickets were 4 days away, many people stayed in line and were very disapointed at not getting tickets. Two hours is really not enough time - but we saw most everything if not a little rushed. The audio guide is excellent.
Saturday was no different than Friday - slow start - actually a slower start. Did not leave the flat until 3:30. Our day was a bus to the Victor Emmanuel Monument, Mussolini's Balcony, the mother church of the Jesuits, the only Gothic Church in Rome built on the ruins of a temple to Minerva, a walk by the Pantheon, and the church to Louis I of France (of course!). The tourist mobs at the Pantheon were amazing - scores of guides holding up umbrellas guiding their flocks through the square. Fortunately we have been here before in quiter times so we did not go in.
We had another wonderful dinner at a wine bar 2 blocks from the apartment recommended by our landlord.
 |
| Bernini Sculpture in front of Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva |
Tonight it is packing - tomorrow we are picked up abougt 10am for our trip to Civitavecchia - the port for Rome where we join the Noordam for our two cruises. The rest of the itinerary is:
- Livorno (port for Florence) - we've rented a car to drive to Volterra.
- Monaco
- Barcelona
- Tunis - still don't know if they will cancel this stop?
- Palermo Sicily
- Rome - Civitavecchia - we've rented a car to drive around the countryside north of Rome.
- Alicante, Spain
- Malaga, Spain
- Cadiz, Spain - have a car for exploring some areas inland of Cadiz. We've stopped her three times before and have been exploring different areas near the City.
- Island of Madeira - Portugal
- Fort Lauderdale
Posts
