Day one of course is always all about the flight. In this case the flight was almost the entirety of the day even though it did not have to be. I got a ride to the airport for about 6:30pm as my flight was to take off at 9:30. Three hours is more than enough time to get through check-in, security and get situated for the flight but it makes things easier for everyone involved to just get there. I flew British Air and that meant terminal E in Logan which I hadn’t been to in some time now. After I got through all the checks I went to the bar down by the far end of the terminal (I think it used to be named Hoolihan’s but now is O’Brians. The bartender who was there from my previous trips through terminal E was there again and she even treated me to a free beer. The flight started boarding a few minutes late but nothing bad.
On the first leg which is the longer of the two I sat darned near the back of the plane and was next to a late middle-aged German man who lives about half an hour from the border of Denmark he said. While they were serving food and drinks he and I talked about a few things. He had just visited Boston and is an avid fisherman. His English was very good. About 2 hours or so into the flight we both decided to get some sleep and I am sure I slept from that exact point to the landing. I woke up just in time to see us touch down. We got in a few minutes earlier than we were supposed to.
After clearing passport control and herding through the terminal I found that Heathrow doesn’t really give gate information until a plane is just about to board, so I had no idea where to go. I found a quieter spot of the terminal and sat there and slept some more and read while I had what was supposed to be a bit less than 4 hours of layover time. In reality it turned out to be over 6 hours. I was not happy about that. The wait felt like it was forever especially because they never updated gate information. The departures board just said the flight was delayed and its new time, which I didn’t believe (and it wasn’t right by the end either).
The second flight was 2 hours or so and I mainly just tried to sleep on it. I would say the flight was uneventful but in truth we ran into some clear air turbulence and the kid diagonally across the aisle and ahead of me ended up tossing his cookies and his mother spent something like 20 minutes cleaning it all up. It was pretty much everywhere. The turbulence was a bit heavier than normal but nothing I thought would cause airsickness. Anyway, we ended up landing after 6pm Rome local time. I followed through the process of passport control then on to get my bag which was fairly deep in the unloading of luggage unfortunately. After that it was to the train station and the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini (Rome Central Station). In trying to buy a ticket for the train the people in front of me started and argument with the ticket seller and it was looking like I was going to miss the one that was already there but fortunately I did not have to because he shooed them away in time.
The train ride was basically dark. It was already dark out and past 7pm by the time the train was on the move. I couldn’t really see anything. On occasions I could see graffiti but that was about it. The ride was about half an hour long. During the trip I turned on the GPS and watched it try to figure out why the car was on the train tracks so much. When I got to Roma Termini I was able to use it to get me to the hotel without any issues in very short order. It was still after 8pm when I called home to say I made it safe. I took a shower and headed out to get something to eat.
I ended up at Ristorante Alfredo which was one block up the street. I chose it because it seemed crowded and they had outdoor seating that was easily accessible. I had seen the place walking to the hotel. The food was decent. I had a beer and penne al arrabiato which wasn’t as spicy as I would have liked. It was tasty though and I used the bread he brought late in the meal to sop up some of the sauce. I assume the beer was Perroni but I cannot be sure. After eating I just headed back to the room to write this and crash for the night. It was a long exhausting day. The room is small, but not terribly so. The place is neat and clean and not too run down. There is a security buzzer on every floor to keep the wrong people out I guess. I got put on the 6th floor which means up one flight of stairs, onto a lift to the 5th floor and then out and up the last flight of stairs to the 6th. I chose to just use the stairs without the suitcase but it is a lot of stairs really.
I will not be able to post pictures before the return as internet is limited all around.
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