Destination : Rome!

Destination : Rome!

On Saturday the 15th December, Steve and I awoke with the prospect of being in Rome, Italy by the end of the day. We had originally planned to fly out from London - Gatwick at 9am so we could be in Rome earlier enough in the day to get from the airport to our hotel room, check in and settle in and then head out and explore Rome for the rest of the day! It has been tradition, that we normally do our best to get somewhere early in the day and then set out to familiarise ourselves with the city a little before we head out and do the BIG tourist run! Unfortunately for us, our early 9am flight to Rome was cancelled by a certain airline the day before via SMS to Steve's phone. Lucky for them, they were very accommodating and booked us both onto a flight at 2pm.

So after a bit of kerfuffle, some time wasted checking in luggage, being screened through security - to the point of them actually making us take off our shoes.. (great if you have slip on ones, not so convenient for those wearing DOC MARTENS!), we actually made it up into the air. Many of you know, I did not fly well to London from Australia, so I was really anxious about flying again after all these months. Prior to boarding the plane - some million miles away from the actual food area (for those of you who have been to Gatwick!) I had more than likely made the mistake of eating a nice solid Pork & Apple hot dog and washed it down with a yummy Banana Smoothie prior to take off. Lucky for me (and for Steve), I found my wings again and flew a very calm two and half hour flight to Rome. I managed to actually munch on the sandwich offered to me on board and dozed off for about half an hour mid-flight! Nice!

At around 5:30pm Roman Time, Steve and I landed at Fiumicino airport. After a bit of mucking around trying to retrieve our baggage we were greeted by a very fresh & chilly Roman temperature of 3°C! I am actually amazed at how simple the place was to navigate. We found our way to the train terminal (Leonardo Express) that would take us into the centre of Rome (Roma Termini) and eventually to our hotel room. We were surprised at how close our hotel room (Hotel Mirage) was to the station - I think the Google Map had actually deceived us a little distance wise. None the less, it looked like a nice hotel. The staff were very polite, professional and somewhat English speaking! We discovered on entry to the floor part of the hotel that it was actually a work in progress. Steve and I kind of looked at each other in amazement - thinking "Mmm, this is interesting!" The elevator in the place was stuck on the last floor because as we discovered later it was the manual door opening type. If you didn't close the doors properly, it wouldn't engage the electronics to move... having said that, Steve and I lugged our small luggage up 3 badly lit floors before reaching the 4th Floor.

Our floor didn't actually look that shabby. In true Italian style, the floor was laid out in beautiful marble tiles with wooden doors and the frames surrounding. Still, I spose the corridor and the stairwell could have been lit a little more adequately - if only for the reason for safety. No matter, Steve and I unloaded our luggage - it was well after 7pm by then and our stomachs were rumbling. Having had no time to do any previous exploration, Steve and I left our hotel and took a brave LEFT turn and headed up the street to find something to eat. We stumbled across a small, humble and cosy basement restaurant truly not even half a block away from the hotel and made an executive decision to just get in there and eat!

There was no second guessing to what we were going to order! I confidently ordered a Spaghetti Carbonara (my favourite eating out type pasta) and a mixed salad as a side order. I know I am so predictable, but then again so is Steve ;o) He ordered a Pizza - his usual Quattro Formaggi! I figure if you have favourites and you know you'll always be happy, stick to it! It's important! LOL Actually, it was that cold that evening, Steve and I went in search of a nice dessert and coffee after our meal in the restaurant. We discovered a COFFEE BAR on the corner. What had initially drawn me into the place was a selection of sweets. On entry we discovered that it was a coffee/alcohol bar, run by traditional looking Italian men dressed the part! These guys had a crisp white shirt on, bow tie and a short waiters type jacket. They seem to be seriously dedicated to coffee and rightfully so, as it was very good coffee! With our bellies full, Steve and I returned to our hotel room to unwind, get to bed early and rest for the new day ahead - A FULL DAY IN ROME!

Stay Tuned!

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