Vacation Notes 2015: Day One: September 2nd & 3rd: We’re Off!

We set the multiple alarms to go off at 4:00AM. When you plan on getting up at Insane o’clock you can’t afford to leave your fate in the hands of a single alarm. The plan was to get a full 2 hours of sleep, get to the *** Hotel by 4:50AM and catch the 5:00AM shuttle to the airport. We came really close to achieving these goals.

All seemed to be going as plan until it was actually time to leave. M*** donned her final travel attire—a pair of tattered sweats that not even the Goodwill would have accepted. L**** fond this unacceptable, and here I must say that I agreed. Naturally this created a delay as M****  argued, pouted and generally expressed all the good nature of a teenager at 4:40 in the morning. Eventually she did change—grudgingly—into something better.

Finally, fueled in-part by my near-perfect coffee, we were ready for the road. Initially, because we would be leaving the car in a public parking lot for 2 weeks, I’d considered driving the 2000 Honda CRV. Who would mess with a 15-year-old car? But we decided instead to drive the silver Nissan Rouge as it non-distinctive nature would make it unlikely to attract any attention in the hotel parking lot.

So, in spite of the late start, and having to settle on the 5:30 shuttle, we still made it to the airport on time.

At the airport we ran into a few of American Airlines money-saving features. Wherever possible, real people have been replaced by automated kiosk. This is neither an efficient nor elegant replacement of real people. Every customer must read the menu and learn the system—all with no real space provided to handle luggage which must be tagged with the printed tickets—efficiency!

Apparently one of the benefits of an early flight is that the TSA, obviously not having the advantage of my near-perfect coffee, does not appear interested in inspecting anything. They did bring out what was allegedly a bomb-sniffing dog, but even he seemed disinterested in being here in the early AM.

We had hoped for enough time for a comfortable breakfast, but our lateness made that impossible. On the plus side the 3+ hour flight to Chicago did leave on-time at approximately 7:00AM.

Sadly, or maybe not, the era of on-board snacks on domestic flights appears to be a thing of the past. I should note that I mean FREE on-board snacks. M&Ms and the like are available for $4.00 and up.

We arrived on time in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. This gave us about 3 hours to wait before boarding the plane to Rome.

We stopped to eat at the airports very own “Macaroni Grill'. Opinions do differ as to this dining experience. The place was nice enough, for an airport restaurant, and the service was nothing to complain about. However, as far as the food goes the nicest thing I can say about the "Macaroni Grill" is that it ain't no "Olive Garden". That's not damning with faint praise, just damning.

The flight to Rome took off as expected, right on time, at 4:00PM. It was booked as a 9-hour flight. It did not fail to live up to expectations.

Unlike on the usually-much-shorter domestic flights they don’t let the customers starve on an overseas flight. Although, maybe, just a little, we would have wished they had. I chose chicken—seemed safe. Mira chose pasta. After one bite neither of us liked our selection. We switched. After one bite of our new meals neither of us liked our selection. So, to summarize: Dinner = two bites. L*** , on the other hand, did appear to get along with her pasta.

Breakfast was a slight improvement, but not by much unless you’re a cranberry lover (LauraMaery), in which case it was pretty good.

There was in-flight entertainment provided: a couple of movies and TV show episodes. I did watch a little, not much, for the most part I had planned to read or sleep. I mostly slept. M*** also mostly slept, although since she remembers bits of the flight were where was awake she will deny ever having slept. L*** was, I believe, the most successful Z catcher. (No pun intended.)

We arrived in Rome right on tine at around 9:00AM. Whatever else I might say about American Airlines, I can't say they weren't on time.

However, Leonardo Da Vinci airport apparently had a serious fire recently as a result they had had no room for us at a terminal. The solution was to leave us out on the tarmac and send out a couple of stairs on wheels and buses to get us back to the terminal.

Italian customs were fast and easy. They showed little interest in questions or routine, stamping the first passport and waiving the rest of us through.

After picking up our luggage, which in itself was an adventure in un air-conditioned hallways, we headed out to the un air-conditioned terminal with its thousands of travelers, and already 80+ degree weather.

We had arranged to meet a shuttle/taxi service for our ride to the airport but something happened. There was a dis-connect between Expedia, the shuttle company, and the woman on the scene running the show—Angela. She was petite, attractive, blond, with dark eyebrows just pushing the limits of caterpillarness. In other words she was Italian as provided by Hollywood central casting. She tried to help, I think, or maybe she cursed us. In any event she did not give us a seat on the shuttle, but did offer us a seat, possibly, on the next shuttle. She had us wait in an airport coffee shop.

While waiting we contacted the hotel. They DID have a shuttle available. They sent it our way and after about 10 minutes the first potential vacation crisis was averted.

The hotel we stayed at was the Mercure Rome West. To have them tell it:

“A modern, stylish 4-star hotel located in the dynamic EUR district, near the new Fiera di Roma exhibition center and Pala Lottomatica arena, not far from Fiumicino airport and 20 minutes from the city center. 240 spacious rooms, spa area/fitness center with pool. Convention center, complimentary WIFI throughout hotel. Large, free indoor car park. Free shuttle service every day to and from airport and EUR Fermi Metro station (direct line to city center) at set times, on request and subject to availability.”

OK. It was a little more off the beaten path then they might suggest but a great find nevertheless.

After checking in we proceeded immediately to the lunch buffet. Not unlike the "Macaroni Grill" in Chicago, I can say that this was no "Olive Garden". However, in this case, I mean it as the highest compliment. It included fish, deli lunch meats, fresh vegetables, cheese, pastries, salads, fresh fruit, coffee, juice, gelato and naturally pasta. Also, something you don't see too often anyplace let alone a buffet: mussels.

After lunch I was fully sated in addition to being dead tired. However, we had pre-purchased hop-on/hop-off bus passes and wanted to make use of them. We settled upon a 3:00PM departure time. This allowed me a few hours for a much-desired nap. Naturally, I have no idea what LauraMaery and Mira did during my nap, but after waking it is safe to say that they had not spend the time drawing permanents-ink tattoos on me while I slept.

At 3:00PM, rousted from my deep sleep, we hustled to the hotel shuttle which would take us to the nearest metro station: EUR Fermi.

As the crow flies I suspect that the metro was not too far from the hotel. However, as the roads wind, greater somewhere between 5 and 10 km does not seem unreasonable.

We boarded the train and rode straight to the main terminal, Terminus, in Rome. It was in the square outside the Terminus station, and beyond the flea-market area, that we met up with our tour bus.

We traveled only a few stops before getting off at Venezia Square. The bus was too hot, making this a good time to mention that it is sunny and hot, around and above 30C. This made exploring on foot, with the ability to slip in and out of shaded shops, seem like a good idea. It was.

There were many thing of interest to see in Venezia Square. There were, of course, ruins (Theatre of Marcellus, Portico of  Octavia) dating back to the time of the Caesars. There was also a small two, or more,  block area that was—almost—exclusively made up of Jewish shops. They’re Jewish shops in Italy who serve Italian food, bent a little in the Jewish direction. Primarily, making it Kosher, I suppose. Naturally there were several gelato vendors even in the Jewish district.

We stopped in a few tourist-trap shops. Mira wanted souvenirs for her friends. Hopefully, they will all like their genuine Roman key chains. We were a little too far from Terminus to walk and have any hope of getting on a train in time to meet our hotel shuttle. So, we navigated the public transport system, competing with thousands of Italians trying to get home from work and found our way back to Terminus a commuter bus. 

This is a little different experience than riding around in a tourist bus as there are no headphones to translate everything to the idiot English-only speakers. Not complaining, just stating the facts. It’s actually a much more interesting experience.

At Terminus we made the train that would bring us back to our waiting hotel shuttle.

And that is pretty much where we leave off on the end of day 1 in Rome. We were all too tired to worry about any more food for the evening.

We begin tomorrow with the complimentary breakfast before heading back into the thick of Rome.