At last the day had come to begin what should be an exciting but relaxing journey. The big draw on this trip is the chance to visit Israel with stops in both Haifa and Ashdod! But for that you must wait a few more days.
Friday, October 14, 2022, my friend Carol and I were meeting at the Atlanta airport to fly to Rome, Italy for a couple of days before meeting the Celebrity Apex for a 26-day sailing. It is a 9 ½ hour flight but luckily from ATL on Delta it is non-top. Shortly after takeoff dinner was served and the ravioli was not bad. Definitely better than Chef Boy-ar-Dee.
The plane was totally full but luckily, I had an aisle seat and the young lady next to me was quite friendly and nice to chat with. She was very excited as she was treating herself to a trip to Italy for her 39th birthday. Time, she said, to treat herself to something just for herself.
I worked out how to take advantage of my free T-Mobile in flight service so sent a few messages, browsed a few sites then put that away and made a few laps around the by now sleeping passengers. I then settled in to watch some movies.I tried a few and then decided to watch one I had never seen – The Godfather! Yes, I know, you wonder how I had not ever been caught up in the original enthusiasm for the award winner. I was more interested this time as I had the time. Also, on my South Pacific tour I had heard an excellent breakdown of some of the quirks and oddities of the making of the film. Like that Marlon Brando didn’t memorize his lines. He didn’t like that part of acting. Cue cards were everywhere and had to be shot around. The best is the scene I especially enjoyed while watching where I knew his lines were written on the front of the shirt of the actor to whom he was speaking!
After a very bad version of a breakfast egg sandwich, we were landing in the Eternal City of Rome. I caught a few glimpses out the windows across the aisle before safely touching down. No rush to gather my things as I was in row 45! Always good to double check as once you are off the plane your options are over.
Carol and I met on the ramp, and we kept walking straight through to baggage claim, past customs as we had nothing to declare, through passport control and then out to the lobby to meet our transfer agent. He guided us and a couple from New York to a comfortable large SUV limo. The airport, as in most big cities lies outside the limits so the ride to the Hotel Palatino. We checked in and had dropped our bags with security about two hours after landing. By 10:30 a.m. we were walking to the Coliseum within view of our hotel. The hotel location proved to be excellent for everything we wanted to do while we visited. Especially since we each had been able to be in Rome before.
We wandered around the very busy main historical district until about 3:00. The Saturday crowd was a beautiful mix of excited tourists, you can always tell. Art and history students. Ones were sketching and the others taking photos and making notes. Families with devoted Dads backpacking diaper bags and pushing strollers and Moms, some beautiful and some slightly bedraggled from travel. I think the beautiful ones indicated that they were locals out to enjoy a nice fall outing with the kids. Street musicians added to the cacophony of traffic and crying kids and whining children.
The Forum is always changing as new discoveries are made. The monuments amazing but there are not a lot of new ones. We went into some churches that were open. Here is where the real art is. Mosaics, frescoes, paintings, statues in so many hues and varieties, also so much embellishing gold! Scaffolding is everywhere – indoors and out.
We turned back toward the hotel. Fingers crossed by the time we found our way through the many windings of back alleys our room would be ready for us to try to recoup before finding real food. When we climbed the steps down the street from the hotel we stopped as there were a lot oof people gathering and a lot of police. We watched and waited and eventually heard a man speaking through a megaphone and could see flashing blue lights. Another fifteen minutes and whatever was happening didn’t seem to be getting any closer to us but then we could see it was some slow-moving parade. Since I don’t sleep on the plane and Carol only doze’s we gave up and rounded the corner to our hotel.
As luck would have it, our room was ready. The porter took our bags up to the fifth floor and a nice room. We found the housekeeper to split the bed for us and to replace the in-room kettle which was not working. I checked the scenery outside our large window and opened it onto the street scene below. I could still hear the megaphone and soon the flashing lights crept around the corner leading a phalanx of grocery cart pushing men, women, and children! Little children rode in the carts some holding hand drawn signs. Banners and signs seemed to say that prices were too high! They were calling for the Prime Minister (I think) or mayor (maybe) to resign. Behind them were the ones “manifesting” that gas prices were too high. It was a very calm, orderly, very long lasting, very slow “Manifestation (Italian for protest) March.” We counted at least 30 police vehicles and curb to curb, shoulder to shoulder, police lines. I give kudos to the speaker who never stopped, for at least the hour we heard him, speaking!
After washing up, we headed back out to eat. Our street had sidewalk cafes on either side so we picked one. Carol had pasta and pesto, I a salami pizza. We each had a small bottle of Prosecco and enjoyed people watching and the setting sun.
Back in our room a fast shower, a few minutes to read, and a good night’s sleep were a blessing!
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