Roma.....SUCKS!!!
Rome,
Italy
Friday, June 3, 2005
Rome....Rome....Rome.....we were really looking forward to Rome....the pizza, the pasta, the gelato, and of course the coffee!!! Not only the gastanomic delights, but also the sights to be seen there.
However, this was not the case at all. Where do I begin....how about at the start?...
We got to the Munich airport with plenty of time...super early in fact. Despite this, the airline could not allocate us a seat together...we could live with that. In fact they could not give David a seat number at all and said we had to wait till the gate to see where he could sit. Whereas they gave me a business class seat....very odd!
So we camped out near the gate waiting for personel to turn up. A girl beat us to the guy who came and we heard him tell her that at this stage it looked as if he could not allocate her a seat unless someone did not turn up. The flight was 'full' so he doubted she would get on but promised her she would be the 1st. We were appalled as we had already bought our ticket back in April!
On talking to him, he said our case was different after consulting someone and David was allocated a seat....at the rear of the plane. But at least he was on! Yaaa!
Seems that on the plane they had decided to split about 5 couples up on the flight....its a mystery why?
Anyway...the flight was fine and I enjoyed the pampering of business class for the 1 & 1/2 hr flight. Rome was in sight....
At the Rome airport we figured we needed to catch a train...our handy Eurostar pass saved us paying out more euros (Euros disappear faster out of your wallet than you can get them out of the ATM!).
Got out of the train....immediate chaos! Everyone with big bags had done the same thing....the hustle and bustle meant no one was helpful, it was very hot and dirty and we were not feeling the best.
We quickly adjusted to the italian way of walking, which is straight, with no deviations, if someone is in your way you just walk into them. We had our big suitcases and people would just walking in front of us. David got a few dirty looks because he 'hit them' with his suitcase...well actually these twits walked into it, "I didn't do anything! Honest!!!" You had to become really aggresive which was not nice.
We needed to figure out how to get to the hotel...but despite the millions of tourists that come to the city via the train station - it is not designed at ALL for tourists. You had to drag your bag up and down steps....bashing into people as you went. We looked for the Information stand which would be logical right? WRONG! These people go out of their way NOT to help you. I had been polite up to this stage until I realised we were getting no help, so every 2nd word was a swear word....so we decided to get tough!!
They seem to go out of their way to NOT give help. Why? Do they expect that from any of the countries they visit as tourists themselves?
Avoiding the taxis - as they were renowned for ripping off tourists....we wandered around the hot streets until we came to another entrance of another train station. Seemed there were a hell of a lot of other lost tourists as well in the same bewildered state as us!
We figured we could catch a train to where we needed and then maybe walk from there. At this stage we were even considering a taxi we were so angry.
Hopped on an underground train, guarding our bags from gypsy thieves. Hopped out the other side back up into the heat of the city streets looking at our maps. Finally figured out the direction and headed that way....sanctuary at last our hotel Villa Franca....actually very expensive for a very budget room.
We finally got a decent map of the city...we had expected to find one at the train station....but no that was too helpful....when in Rome...be cynical as it is usually the way it works out!
We collapsed on our old beds and lay there exhausted....we slept for a few hours and as we only had 1 full day the next day wanted to make the most of it. Because we were sick we thought we would be proper tourists and do a nice easy, relaxing bus tour or two. So we organised one for the morning & afternoon of the following day.
Then it was time to wander out and see what we could see around the neighbourhood and find dinner. Found a supermarket and stocked up on items for tomorrows tour to save euros on buying expensive food in the tourist places.
Then found a number restaurants to choose from. Despite the early disappointment of the day we were looking forward to the food in Rome. We ordered a pizza and lemonade for our colds. Pizza was CRAP! Not worth descibing....You could get better from pizza hutt and that is saying something!
Disappointing day all around. Were glad we had a tour organised for the next day to keep us busy and have something to look forward to....
