Off to Rome, but not smoothly so far. We had an unseemly early pick up time of 6:20am and it was raining. Our driver would not help us with any luggage, or help some of us into the van. Hands off seemed to be his motto. He drove to another hotel near Arc de Triumph which we had not seen yet. I snapped a few pictures through the window.
This hotel was also situated on a narrow street. The last two passengers were from Adelaide, Australia and were seeing several countries. They had already been to Belfast and London and were on the way to Belgium. Very nice people. Leaving the hotel, the driver got stuck behind a truck delivering sacks of flour we think to a bakery. There was not enough room for us to pass. The driver even got out to try to get them to move but couldn't. While sitting there I took a picture of cars parallel parked nearby. They park so close to each other, you wonder how anyone gets their car in or out of these spots. We have seen drivers going back and forth, literally hitting the cars in front and in back of them to get out. That's why there are so many small makes of cars as well as more motorcycles than we could count.
Got to the airport where we were let out at the opposite end of the terminal from where we needed to be. Of course we had to get our luggage and ourselves out and then hike to the other end. He was expecting a tip from everyone but didn't get any....I'm sure Lee will tell Gate1, the travel agency, about it.
So we had plenty of time to get through security and that all went well. However, I said 'Bonjour' to the attendant helping us at security and he starts rattling off in French. I had to shake my head no, and he laughed and repeated in English he needed my boarding pass. I guess I sounded pretty authentic!
Got to the gate after grabbing a blueberry crumble muffin for breakfast at a 'French fast food' place. Then we started seeing the plane delayed, and delayed, and delayed. We were supposed to leave at 9:35 and finally left at 10:20. Not too bad but we had all lined up to board at 9:15 and I got very tired of standing. Ok, just very tired, it was a short night with an early wake up. Finally got going for the 2 hour flight to Rome. We did have snacks on the flight. Pesto mini Grissini crackers and the smallest can of coke I've ever seen. 15 cl size, whatever that is and only 63 calories ( who's counting on vacation).
Got the hotel only to find our room was not cleaned yet. We ended up going upstairs for a sandwich until they were done. Then we found out the walls are very thin in our room and we could hear the neighbors quite well.eventually they left to find pizza and we got a much needed nap.
From the rooftop garden bar of our hotel
Finally time to get out on the streets. We took a cab down to the Pantheon and found a LOT of people. The tourists are certainly out and about!
There are so many old old structures around. It's like they had the old city, and instead of tearing down or putting up a new city next to it, they built new building next to old. It's crazy! Cobblestone narrow streets are the norm. What's also crazy is the Italian drivers.....there don't seem to be any road rules. Except one, if a person steps out onto the white striped crosswalk, all drivers, bus, car, motorcycle, will screech to a halt or drive around you...they don't necessarily stay on their side of the road either! I must say I expected more honking but there's been hardly any.
We stayed long enough to need supper. I had pizza with my favorite - anchovies! And wine of course... We took taxis back to the hotel. We did have a little excitement, a police car had stoped traffic going the other way. while we were stopped there at a light, 3 small cars came speeding by with their lights and sirens going and turned in front of the police car with brakes squealing..right behind them went the police car. The taxi driver just turned, smiled at us and said 'polizia' in a disgusted voice. Does this happen often? Taxis seem to be quicker and safer than walking! Actually there were police and gendarmes all over. I guess there are concerns about terrorists near the political offices? It makes me a little nervous...
We got some nice night pictures before going up to the room. Tomorrow is the tour of the Vatican and Basilica so we need our sleep!
One last picture of the solution to Italian parking woes:
Posted with Blogsy
Now you are in Rome. Loved your pictures of the traffic. I remember that well. I was there also with St. Olaf Lifelong Learning. As always, good pictures. I look forward to tomorrow. My, you all only have a couple of days left.What will I do when you get back? I like these stories.
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