Rome - Day One
This Christmas/birthday just passed was a big one. Not only did Riccardo and I have our first experience ever of hosting both our families over the holiday season (see past posts), but it was also my big 3-0 on the 7th of January. And to commemorate this special turning point, Riccardo, his family and some of mine, pitched in to send us to Rome over my half-term break in February.And so, we've just returned from an amazing 5-day holiday!!
Our flight was from London Stansted at 6:30 on Sunday morning; we decided to stay in an airport hotel so we could get a few hours sleep before take-off. Because we were already on a tight travel budget, I was choosey when it came to booking this accommodation. I decided paying around $130 for the night, including 6 days' parking and airport transfers was enough... unfortunately, $130 only gets you a 2* hotel... and boy was it ever!
The hotel was about 20 minutes from the airport, and looked promising from the outside. It was once a quaint pub inn in a lovely country village. Upon entering, however, we found the 'pub' to be deserted, and for good reason. 'Breakfast' (also included in the room rate) was still laid out for the morning's guests, though it was 6:00pm when we arrived, and this consisted of a box of Cornflakes. Just that and some souring milk. Uh-oh.
Our room was motel style. Warning lights there, too. The musty air hit us on the way in, a result of the heating not in working order. The proprietor was, however, kind enough to turn on for us a small electric heater (which looked to have been thrown up on at some point). The bed, though clean, was made with totally mismatched bedding which only further clashed with the curtains which hung precariously from the window. The bathroom was just shy of clean, and worst of all, the tea service sitting on the desk had clearly been used. Good thing neither of us had time for tea.
Thinking we'd have a nice evening and wanting to start our holiday off right, I had packed a bottle of bubbly. Riccardo was a little less than enthused that I had accidentally picked one of our better bottles (we still have a few from the wedding and various Christmas/birthday presents) considering the conditions in which it needed to be enjoyed. We couldn't bring it with us as our checked luggage was already at breaking point for the weight limit. We didn't even have glasses to drink it out of - so classy! It certainly made for a laugh, and a good sleep... and at 3:30am we awoke and readied ourselves for the journey. There was no way we were chancing various skin infections from that shower, so it was a quick process and then into the taxi and off to bigger and better things!
Despite travelling via our most hated airline, Ryanair, the flight was totally fine. We landed in Rome just after 9:00am. The second glitch of our holiday commenced here: getting to our hotel from the airport, which is located about 45 minutes outside of the city - not something we felt necessary to plan in advance. We ended up getting help from a local who informed us to take the coach to Termini Station, and then the Metropolitana (subway) from there. The coach part worked fine. But do you think a native Italian speaker could figure out the damn Metro? Uh, no. Pity those without a Riccardo because the Metro was definitely NOT clearly marked, nor were any maps/instructions in English. Annoying. When we finally got to our station, Spagna, we were further irritated to learn that the 5-minute walk promised by our hotel was actually about 25 minutes (hoofing it, with luggage in-tow). So we finally arrived at about 1:00, it having taken over 3 hours to get from the bloody airport!
Tired but excited, we dumped our luggage at the hotel and set out. Our first stop: pizza! Our hotel was in a poshish neighbourhood (we only found this out on our walk passed numerous designer shops from the Metro) jam-packed with ristorantes, so we were spoiled for choice when it came to eateries. Our first pizzas in Rome were delicious, of course. Mmmmm, Quattro Formaggi!
We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening trapsing through Rome, seeing the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps (handily located at our closest Metro station, Spagna). We also had a magical night-time look at the Vatican and its nearby skating rink (!).
Finally, it was off to bed in our very respectable hotel room: Hotel Adriano was very well located and clean (particularly for Roman standards, I'm told).
Very kind of you not to mention that I was actually driving (!!!) over our suitcase, banging my head in the hotel room and drowning half the bed in Champagne :o)