Ciao Bella!

Thursday

1 August

Day 32

64 to go

With an 8.55am flight, I had set the alarm for 5am. This was the reason behind staying at Gatwick airport rather than an early morning train or car commute. We slowly gathered ourselves, ate a little and then packed up our things and made for the exit. 

We were in the terminal for 6am, along with hordes of other holiday makers. It seems Gatwick is the airport of choice for budget carrier, Easy Jet and there were flights going off in all directions. We joined the long line for the baggage drop, expecting at least an hour wait, but it was super efficient and we had our to bags weighed, 26.5 and 18kg, and tagged and then we passed immigration and security, all before 6.30am. Winning. 

We made our way through the snaking maze of shops offering their duty free wares and then we made for the info board. Our flight was scheduled for 8.55am and the board was saying gate info would be displayed at 7.55am, so we still had a little time to kill.

We wandered the terminal checking the downstairs area, before venturing upstairs and then we plonked our selves on a seat, people and internet watching. We opted for a quick breakfast croissant and hot chocolate and when that was finished, we went to check on the board. At 7.55am a message came up saying check at 8am. At 8am a message came up saying check at 8.10am. By the time 8.10am rolled around, the board was saying delayed until 11.25am and to check boarding at 10.25am! Bugger.

We found a quiet space near some gates that weren’t for Easyjet and made ourselves at home. We spent time surfing the net and then we phoned Emirates to find out about our claim. It’s still in the pipeline. I rang Mum and Dad to see how they were getting on and sorted out their hotel enquiry. We then ventured back into the main mall, went upstairs, plugged into power and waited.

At 10.15am, Paul went for a brief wander only to return to say our gate was closed! This threw us and a lot of other travellers into a panic. We raced to gate 55D, dodging slow moving people, only to find it wasn’t closed at all. Phew. 

We joined the throngs of people milling within the gate area, many retelling similar stories of delays and then mass panic. By 10.45am we were passing through final boarding check and then we were funneled down the gangplank to wait again, before finally taking our seats in row 6. We were in a row of 3, thankfully the window seat was never filled, despite being a full plane, so we had plenty of space to stretch out. 

At 11.15am we were taxiing to the runway and 10 minutes later we were finally in the air and bound for Rome. Thankful, we weren’t canceled or needing to catch a connecting flight. The flight itself was smooth. We entertained ourselves with our books and we consumed the food we had brought along, so we weren’t slugged for the snacks on offer. 

At 2pm we were nearing our destination. I jumped into the window seat, so that I could take in the view as we hit mainland Italy. It wasn’t long after and we were on the ground in Rome. Unfortunately we stayed there a little longer as there was an issue with the gangway. More delays. Once off, we collected our passport stamp at immigration and the followed the crowds to the baggage claim. Our bags were waiting for us as we arrived. Yippee. 

I then fought with the wifi system, not being able to connect to my UK card. I eventually got the airport signal and was able to work out what trains we required. I took screenshots of the google instructions, knowing it would soon drop off again. 

We found the ticket office for the train to Rome, bought our tickets and then went to the platform, only to hear that the train was cancelled! Thankfully another was leaving 15min later. We crammed onto it with all of the other commuters and enjoyed quite a slow 30min journey into the Rome Termini. 

From here we had to find out how to get to our guest house. We eventually located the ticket machines, bought train tickets for 48hours and then made our way to the A platform via a couple of lifts. We had 5 stops to make to Lepanto. It was relatively easy, but with bags and weariness from traveling it makes it more challenging.

 Once at the station, we had stairs to navigate and then on the street, we had to work out which way was up. We got help from a few people along the way and eventually we were entering the large doors that hid the myriad of apartments. Our instructions were very clear and we soon had our keys and were in our room. Phew 5pm Italian time but only 4pm UK time.

We took some time to just decompress. Had a shower and unpacked a few bits. We were keen to get out and wander around the blocks near by, looking in on some general supermarkets and buying dinner, pizza. We consumed it back in the kitchen of our guest house. 

After dinner, we bought a stracciatella gelato and walked in the opposite direction, reaching the River Tiber and crossing it at the nearest bridge. We walked up the opposite bank, noticing a large rat like mammal swimming about. Turns at it is a Nutria. We then returned to our bank via the next bridge and then zigzagged through interesting streets until we reached home. 

Once back, we planned out tomorrow’s adventures. We had to turn off the aircon, as it was pumping the hot air back into the room rather than outside. I ended up knicking the pedestal fan from the kitchen and having that on instead.