And We Came "Round by Rome": Two Texans in Rome, Februrary 2017
Mar 6th, 2017, 05:58 PM
#21
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We must have stayed very close to where you were as Grom was our local gelato place. And we often hung out in piazza Navona doing a bit of people watching. At that time there was a fab picture on the far wall which I'll try to find and will post if I can.
You did very well to find your way around. I know you had your gps but I'm finding my sense of direction is rapidly disappearing these days.
You did very well to find your way around. I know you had your gps but I'm finding my sense of direction is rapidly disappearing these days.
Mar 7th, 2017, 02:50 AM
#23
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cathies--Well, we did get turned around a few times!
<b>Day 8—Saturday--Going Home--We Hope</b>
• The car was there before 5; we settled up with hotel and off we went in no traffic; we got to the airport about 5:30.
• The line for us (whatever they call it at BA for “privileged” folks—ha) was short, and it looked like we’d be checked in by 6. But…as M feared, BA showed no record of this trip. Suffice it to say that this was frustrating, maddening, scary, and stressful. It took almost an hour on the phone, and I don’t know who all M and the BA lady went through, but at last, at almost 7, we were checked in. With BA passes only, not the ones for AA flights. And the plane would board in 20 minutes or so. We hustled through security quickly and had to wait on a train to the gate; on that train was the BA desk lady now also going to our gate to serve as the gate agent for this flight; she said we had time. We hustled, got there, ended up waiting maybe 15 minutes. Whew. Not a good way to start a trip.
• We figure AA Vacations dropped the ball. Would we ever use AAVacations again? Only if all the legs of our journey were with AA; no more partner airlines to have different record locators, etc.
• Also, something weird happened as we were in line. There was a mom and young girl in front of us. As we waited, a guy in a grey jacket and no luggage came up right beside me, sorta; I said something like, are you with them—the people in front of me. Because he seemed to be sorta trying to edge in or something. He walked off. A few minutes later, M said, hey, that guy just tried to go through security with some people; at the same time a security guard at the desk in between our line and the security screening area noticed the guy had no paperwork, too, and jumped up and said something and the guy walked away quickly. The guard got on his phone and seemed to be alerting some other folks of the weirdness. Pickpocket? At some point he’d have had to have a boarding pass to get on a plane, but if he’d snuck through with those ladies, he’d have been in the gate area with people with luggage and all the shops. Always gotta stay alert, even at the end of a trip, early in the morning!
• So the plane left about on time. We were in the back, not in seats we’d chosen months ago as that record disappeared, but we had seats. The flight was non-eventful and landed at LHR on-time.
• We were NOT met by a CK agent this time at LHR and had to ride the bus (what a maze and hustle-bustle it is to go from terminal to terminal there) to the terminal with the AA desk to get boarding passes. That went pretty smoothly, and then we went through security and had time to go to Harrods for #14 English Breakfast Tea. I became a fan years ago, but I ran out last fall. We had had time to shop here in October returning from Edinburgh, but the shop was out of that loose leaf tea. This time, we got 6 boxes. Yay! Then on to the AA Lounge for about 30 minutes.
• We had our upgrade to Business again and settled in early. The flight left on time and was glitchless. M slept a few hours right away and felt much better.
• Our arrival at DFW was on time, but after going quickly with our Global Entry access through Passport Control kiosks and getting our luggage, we encountered a mess. Several planes seemed to have arrived at the same time, and I don’t think DFW had enough staff to handle the crowd. Not many lanes were open. There was a long line in our priority line for customs, as they’d funneled many there with orange “expedited” cards, as I guess many had tight connections. So that took us much longer than it should have. Then after we’d rechecked our bags and went to a priority line for security, we were in another longer-than-it-should-have-been line because once again it was populated mostly by people with orange “expedited” cards. Of course people with tight connections due to airline problems should be helped, but I think DFW should have opened more lines or something so that priority folks also could be handled in a faster manner, as expected (and often paid for). It was a stressful process as our 90 minute connection time dwindled to almost nothing as we waited in customs and then security lines due to insufficient staffing.
• We got to our gate with about 10 minutes to spare, and the ride home, both the flight and the drive home in our car we’d left at the airport, was uneventful.
<b>Day 8—Saturday--Going Home--We Hope</b>
• The car was there before 5; we settled up with hotel and off we went in no traffic; we got to the airport about 5:30.
• The line for us (whatever they call it at BA for “privileged” folks—ha) was short, and it looked like we’d be checked in by 6. But…as M feared, BA showed no record of this trip. Suffice it to say that this was frustrating, maddening, scary, and stressful. It took almost an hour on the phone, and I don’t know who all M and the BA lady went through, but at last, at almost 7, we were checked in. With BA passes only, not the ones for AA flights. And the plane would board in 20 minutes or so. We hustled through security quickly and had to wait on a train to the gate; on that train was the BA desk lady now also going to our gate to serve as the gate agent for this flight; she said we had time. We hustled, got there, ended up waiting maybe 15 minutes. Whew. Not a good way to start a trip.
• We figure AA Vacations dropped the ball. Would we ever use AAVacations again? Only if all the legs of our journey were with AA; no more partner airlines to have different record locators, etc.
• Also, something weird happened as we were in line. There was a mom and young girl in front of us. As we waited, a guy in a grey jacket and no luggage came up right beside me, sorta; I said something like, are you with them—the people in front of me. Because he seemed to be sorta trying to edge in or something. He walked off. A few minutes later, M said, hey, that guy just tried to go through security with some people; at the same time a security guard at the desk in between our line and the security screening area noticed the guy had no paperwork, too, and jumped up and said something and the guy walked away quickly. The guard got on his phone and seemed to be alerting some other folks of the weirdness. Pickpocket? At some point he’d have had to have a boarding pass to get on a plane, but if he’d snuck through with those ladies, he’d have been in the gate area with people with luggage and all the shops. Always gotta stay alert, even at the end of a trip, early in the morning!
• So the plane left about on time. We were in the back, not in seats we’d chosen months ago as that record disappeared, but we had seats. The flight was non-eventful and landed at LHR on-time.
• We were NOT met by a CK agent this time at LHR and had to ride the bus (what a maze and hustle-bustle it is to go from terminal to terminal there) to the terminal with the AA desk to get boarding passes. That went pretty smoothly, and then we went through security and had time to go to Harrods for #14 English Breakfast Tea. I became a fan years ago, but I ran out last fall. We had had time to shop here in October returning from Edinburgh, but the shop was out of that loose leaf tea. This time, we got 6 boxes. Yay! Then on to the AA Lounge for about 30 minutes.
• We had our upgrade to Business again and settled in early. The flight left on time and was glitchless. M slept a few hours right away and felt much better.
• Our arrival at DFW was on time, but after going quickly with our Global Entry access through Passport Control kiosks and getting our luggage, we encountered a mess. Several planes seemed to have arrived at the same time, and I don’t think DFW had enough staff to handle the crowd. Not many lanes were open. There was a long line in our priority line for customs, as they’d funneled many there with orange “expedited” cards, as I guess many had tight connections. So that took us much longer than it should have. Then after we’d rechecked our bags and went to a priority line for security, we were in another longer-than-it-should-have-been line because once again it was populated mostly by people with orange “expedited” cards. Of course people with tight connections due to airline problems should be helped, but I think DFW should have opened more lines or something so that priority folks also could be handled in a faster manner, as expected (and often paid for). It was a stressful process as our 90 minute connection time dwindled to almost nothing as we waited in customs and then security lines due to insufficient staffing.
• We got to our gate with about 10 minutes to spare, and the ride home, both the flight and the drive home in our car we’d left at the airport, was uneventful.
Mar 7th, 2017, 09:45 AM
#24
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And just a few more general comments:
• I loved Rome; of all the non-British cities I’ve been in, I think this is my favorite, probably because there’s so much history for me to relate to. The people are wonderful, too. If we’d tried to go further afield and had had to deal with public transport, my opinion might be different, but in the areas we stayed in, it was a very walkable city. It was cleaner than I remembered from 2010, and there was less traffic (I think they’ve worked on making more areas more restricted to vehicles). I liked how well-lit it is, how much security and helpful agents there are everywhere, and how there was less graffiti.
• I really liked our hotel--location, staff, basic comfort and amenities.
• I’d hesitate to use but not rule out completely American Airlines Vacation packages. We hated having that stress at the end of the week, especially when M spent the time and energy (and phone bill cost) to get it handled before the day of departure.
• I was a bit disappointed in the food, but I never went hungry, I never had anything bad really (except for grocery store packaged chocolate), and I had a variety. There were certainly lots of places to choose from everywhere!
• I was NOT disappointed in gelato! Ha.
• M’s feeling bad certainly was unscheduled and disappointing for him—and for me—but I didn’t really skip anything I had on my lists, except for Ostia Antica, and even I was not sold on the idea of figuring out a train trip at the end of a tiring week, so I’m not disappointed. I threw my coin; maybe I’ll return and do that next trip! I was sad he didn’t see a few things with me, most especially the Moses statue, but he did like what he got to see, so he had successful visit all in all, too. By the time I ventured out for walks on my own, I felt confident enough in navigation to feel safe.
• I’d recommend using a mobile mapping aid like Googlemaps for navigating! And so many people were!
• I’d also recommend Rick Steves’ audio guides to download. As we don’t like to book tours much, this was a great alternative.
• I loved Rome; of all the non-British cities I’ve been in, I think this is my favorite, probably because there’s so much history for me to relate to. The people are wonderful, too. If we’d tried to go further afield and had had to deal with public transport, my opinion might be different, but in the areas we stayed in, it was a very walkable city. It was cleaner than I remembered from 2010, and there was less traffic (I think they’ve worked on making more areas more restricted to vehicles). I liked how well-lit it is, how much security and helpful agents there are everywhere, and how there was less graffiti.
• I really liked our hotel--location, staff, basic comfort and amenities.
• I’d hesitate to use but not rule out completely American Airlines Vacation packages. We hated having that stress at the end of the week, especially when M spent the time and energy (and phone bill cost) to get it handled before the day of departure.
• I was a bit disappointed in the food, but I never went hungry, I never had anything bad really (except for grocery store packaged chocolate), and I had a variety. There were certainly lots of places to choose from everywhere!
• I was NOT disappointed in gelato! Ha.
• M’s feeling bad certainly was unscheduled and disappointing for him—and for me—but I didn’t really skip anything I had on my lists, except for Ostia Antica, and even I was not sold on the idea of figuring out a train trip at the end of a tiring week, so I’m not disappointed. I threw my coin; maybe I’ll return and do that next trip! I was sad he didn’t see a few things with me, most especially the Moses statue, but he did like what he got to see, so he had successful visit all in all, too. By the time I ventured out for walks on my own, I felt confident enough in navigation to feel safe.
• I’d recommend using a mobile mapping aid like Googlemaps for navigating! And so many people were!
• I’d also recommend Rick Steves’ audio guides to download. As we don’t like to book tours much, this was a great alternative.
Mar 7th, 2017, 11:24 AM
#27
Sounds as if you made the best of a trip that had more than a few glitches, texas - a shame that your DH didn't feel up to accompanying you all the time, but it can be fun flying solo some of the time, can't it? hope your DH felt better by the time you got home, anyway.
I definitely approve of your spending all your week in Rome. So many newbies here want to fit two or three cities into a week never knowing what they are missing by spending such a short time in each place. I find that after a few days in a city [or in the case of Rome, an area] I start to understand how it's put together, and then even if I do get lost, I'm not if you know what I mean. IMO that is one of the disadvantages of short trips - you never get that feeling of knowing where you are and being "at home". The waiter in the nearby cafe never says buon giorno with the smile that means he recognises you, you never have a favourite gelateria, you never find the pastecceria with the best cornetti, yet IME these are often some of the things we remember best.
I definitely approve of your spending all your week in Rome. So many newbies here want to fit two or three cities into a week never knowing what they are missing by spending such a short time in each place. I find that after a few days in a city [or in the case of Rome, an area] I start to understand how it's put together, and then even if I do get lost, I'm not if you know what I mean. IMO that is one of the disadvantages of short trips - you never get that feeling of knowing where you are and being "at home". The waiter in the nearby cafe never says buon giorno with the smile that means he recognises you, you never have a favourite gelateria, you never find the pastecceria with the best cornetti, yet IME these are often some of the things we remember best.
Mar 7th, 2017, 11:59 AM
#28
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I agree with annhig that it's fun going solo sometimes, but too bad your hubs was not feeling well. That happened to me on a trip to Scotland, although I only lost one morning when I decided to stay in.
I very much enjoyed your trip report - makes me realize how much I miss Rome, one of my favorite places. Thank you so much for sharing.
I very much enjoyed your trip report - makes me realize how much I miss Rome, one of my favorite places. Thank you so much for sharing.
Mar 7th, 2017, 03:40 PM
#30
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Thanks, all, for sharing that you enjoyed my sharing.
Yes, we are glad to have spent the whole week there; maybe we'll see more of Italy on another visit.
I agree about the tendency to underestimate the time and energy involved in moving from city to city; I have loved maybe best the times I've been in one city (London, Frankfurt, Edinburgh) for a week or more and taken day trips. So with that style of travel in mind, this June I'm taking 15 folks (fellow teachers, some students with moms, couple college girls) to London for 10 days; we'll have 3 day trips and still have time to feel comfortable in our neighborhood and have plenty of time (wait, that's not really possible to have PLENTY of time!) in London.
Yes, we are glad to have spent the whole week there; maybe we'll see more of Italy on another visit.
I agree about the tendency to underestimate the time and energy involved in moving from city to city; I have loved maybe best the times I've been in one city (London, Frankfurt, Edinburgh) for a week or more and taken day trips. So with that style of travel in mind, this June I'm taking 15 folks (fellow teachers, some students with moms, couple college girls) to London for 10 days; we'll have 3 day trips and still have time to feel comfortable in our neighborhood and have plenty of time (wait, that's not really possible to have PLENTY of time!) in London.
Mar 7th, 2017, 03:57 PM
#31
Great report...I like to see other people walk as much as we do. I'll show this to my traveling companions so they don't think I'm the only evil taskmaster. Gets me in the mood for Rome next year,
Mar 7th, 2017, 06:30 PM
#32
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Lovely report. Thank you for the eloquent write up. I enjoyed it immensely. I agree with annig that my heart soars when a waiter recognizes you and gives a knowing smile. It's almost a "thank you for enjoying my city." I think of these cities as onions with layers that I have the privilege of unwrapping with each visit.
Mar 8th, 2017, 02:43 AM
#34
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maitaitom--Ha! Maybe I need to share some of your itineraries with my group before our June trip in London to show the same about me! (and I think you are off to London and Scotland soon--enjoy!)
Mar 8th, 2017, 06:37 AM
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On not knowing where you took photos in 2010, that's one thing I hate about guided tours--I lose track of where I am because I didn't plan it. But, now that my camera has GPS locating on it, at least I can find out after the fact where I was (as long as it's outdoors).
Mar 8th, 2017, 09:33 AM
#37
paris - it is of course possible that they are only pretending to recognise us, but I kid myself that we have made a little bit of a connection, especially when they let me practice my Italian on them.
Texas - I look forward to reading about your London trip. Leading a trip is very brave - what do you have in mind for your itinerary? [if you want to submit it to public scrutiny that is!]
Texas - I look forward to reading about your London trip. Leading a trip is very brave - what do you have in mind for your itinerary? [if you want to submit it to public scrutiny that is!]
Mar 8th, 2017, 11:25 AM
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annhig--yeah, posting an itinerary here can be....fraught with danger! Ha. It's my 7th trip to London, including 3 with students but with a tour group--never did the whole "I'm the tour director" thing by myself. But in short:
We got cheaper group tickets by flying through Dublin (compared to straight to LHR), so we arrive on AA and then catch a BA flight, and arrive LHR mid-afternoon, get/top up Oysters, and Tube in; DD, who is fellow teacher, as well as two more travelers, a mom and her daughter, will have already gotten keys to apartments and meet us.
We are staying in 4 apartments in Chelsea; just settle in and get foods and maybe a walk on Monday.
Tuesday—Westminster area, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery (briefly), Churchill War Rooms maybe, walk-by Buckingham Palace, …..Hyde Park or something, depending on how we are
Wednesday—We got 11 tickets to Harry Potter (which is 2 plays), so we will go to Covent Garden (picking up tickets on the way) and after lunch go to the first play. 5 are going to Les Mis matinee. We HP folks will get dinner and see 2nd play. Others will get dinner and then ???
Thursday—British Library and British Museum (and probably something after, like a walk on one side of the river, maybe the Eye for some.
Friday—The Tower of London and Greenwich and early night because out of town daily next 3 days
Saturday—A day trip—using Rail Passes—Salisbury and Stonehenge
Sunday—A day trip—using Rail Passes—Bath
Monday—A day trip—Oxford
Tuesday—St. Paul’s, Globe performance in the afternoon, then ???
Wednesday—flight to Dublin, bit of time in the city
Thursday--home
We got cheaper group tickets by flying through Dublin (compared to straight to LHR), so we arrive on AA and then catch a BA flight, and arrive LHR mid-afternoon, get/top up Oysters, and Tube in; DD, who is fellow teacher, as well as two more travelers, a mom and her daughter, will have already gotten keys to apartments and meet us.
We are staying in 4 apartments in Chelsea; just settle in and get foods and maybe a walk on Monday.
Tuesday—Westminster area, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery (briefly), Churchill War Rooms maybe, walk-by Buckingham Palace, …..Hyde Park or something, depending on how we are
Wednesday—We got 11 tickets to Harry Potter (which is 2 plays), so we will go to Covent Garden (picking up tickets on the way) and after lunch go to the first play. 5 are going to Les Mis matinee. We HP folks will get dinner and see 2nd play. Others will get dinner and then ???
Thursday—British Library and British Museum (and probably something after, like a walk on one side of the river, maybe the Eye for some.
Friday—The Tower of London and Greenwich and early night because out of town daily next 3 days
Saturday—A day trip—using Rail Passes—Salisbury and Stonehenge
Sunday—A day trip—using Rail Passes—Bath
Monday—A day trip—Oxford
Tuesday—St. Paul’s, Globe performance in the afternoon, then ???
Wednesday—flight to Dublin, bit of time in the city
Thursday--home
