Travel Day!
Sunday June 16 Travel Day!
We woke up early and tired, thinking of our beds in Canada. We dragged ourselves out the door and spent our last (to the cent) 3 euros for the metro. It was then I discovered... hey... where's my phone? shit.
I ran back to the hostel with the kind old guard holding the train gate for me. It was too early however and the key to the room was dropped safely into the drop off box. Too bad, so sad. No phone. I ran back and we rushed to Wakana And Hauke's hotel. We arrived 10 mins late to an irritated driver. We set off and it was a roller coaster. With emptier streets than our arrival, it was no longer a city street, but a race track with the occasional obstacle.
We weaved through cars and bikes, crossing into wrong way streets to pass cars. We sped even faster on the tight highway, topping off at 180 km/h. No joke.
We arrived in 25 mins. We arrived int 25 mins!!! We said our goodbyes and headed out to find our Alitalia desks. Backtracking, we ran into Wakana and Hauke. They were at the wrong airport.
Ouch.
I wished them luck and headed to a line up. While in line behind 5 nuns, we just happened to see our flight info on another desk. Apparently they have specific desks for each flight. This means we were in the wrong line. Our new line consisted of one employee who was taking care of an indian family. Both were unhappy. We stood in line... for an hour. We arrived over 2 hours before our flight and didn't get our passes until the plane started boarding. With our tickets we fought the crowd and were faced with a wall of people trying to go through customs. A mad free for all we were directed to another terminal. A 10 minute speed walk and we were on the other side of the airport going through customs just to walk back to the original terminal. I managed to score a slice of pizza for our breakfast because I refused to pay 9.50€ ($13-14) for a sandwich and water. Thankfully, I dont' think anything in that airport (or all of Rome) leaves on time. We got on to our grueling 10 hour flight with too-small in flight meals and the surprisingly entertaining yet still-not-good film, Jack the giant slayer.
Wishing it was an overnight flight (instead of the all day flight) I danced in my seat without Journal or my ipod. Nita sat seperate, 4 rows back and we were trapped with nothing to do.
We arrived at our connecting point in Canada and the mood changed instantly. Compassionate and sympathetic Canadians with cheery voices could well have been saints and angels after our Fiumicino experience. Coughing violently the whole trip from Rome to Toronto to Ottawa, I was relieved to be home and struggling to remember the great trip to counteract the pessimism brought on by my battered, beaten, and infected body.
We woke up early and tired, thinking of our beds in Canada. We dragged ourselves out the door and spent our last (to the cent) 3 euros for the metro. It was then I discovered... hey... where's my phone? shit.
I ran back to the hostel with the kind old guard holding the train gate for me. It was too early however and the key to the room was dropped safely into the drop off box. Too bad, so sad. No phone. I ran back and we rushed to Wakana And Hauke's hotel. We arrived 10 mins late to an irritated driver. We set off and it was a roller coaster. With emptier streets than our arrival, it was no longer a city street, but a race track with the occasional obstacle.
We weaved through cars and bikes, crossing into wrong way streets to pass cars. We sped even faster on the tight highway, topping off at 180 km/h. No joke.
We arrived in 25 mins. We arrived int 25 mins!!! We said our goodbyes and headed out to find our Alitalia desks. Backtracking, we ran into Wakana and Hauke. They were at the wrong airport.
Ouch.
I wished them luck and headed to a line up. While in line behind 5 nuns, we just happened to see our flight info on another desk. Apparently they have specific desks for each flight. This means we were in the wrong line. Our new line consisted of one employee who was taking care of an indian family. Both were unhappy. We stood in line... for an hour. We arrived over 2 hours before our flight and didn't get our passes until the plane started boarding. With our tickets we fought the crowd and were faced with a wall of people trying to go through customs. A mad free for all we were directed to another terminal. A 10 minute speed walk and we were on the other side of the airport going through customs just to walk back to the original terminal. I managed to score a slice of pizza for our breakfast because I refused to pay 9.50€ ($13-14) for a sandwich and water. Thankfully, I dont' think anything in that airport (or all of Rome) leaves on time. We got on to our grueling 10 hour flight with too-small in flight meals and the surprisingly entertaining yet still-not-good film, Jack the giant slayer.Wishing it was an overnight flight (instead of the all day flight) I danced in my seat without Journal or my ipod. Nita sat seperate, 4 rows back and we were trapped with nothing to do.