I was all set, all set and confident and ready to get the bus from the airport to Piazza Whatsitsname, Metro B to Ponte Mammolo and the 508 to the hotel.
That was, until I got to the airport and couldn't make head nor tail of the place. Where to these mythical buses stop? Does my freshly purchased 2 day travelcard get me on that big Cotral bus that stops outside? Surely this place has a cash machine! After having roused myself at 3am in order to catch my taxi, train and plane on time, and after 45minutes of wandering around a strange airport I gave in. I'll go to the station and get a train. It's more expensive, but hey, it'll get me to Termini, I'll know what to do from there.
Once I've found the station I wander up to Information and ask whether my travelcard will get me on the train to Termini. 3 Italian men look up at me and frown, shake their heads, 'No no no no no no no', in a fashion vaguely reminiscent of the Vicar of Dibley.
*sigh*
'Where you go?'
'Oh, a LONG way, but once I get to Termini I'll know what I'm doing'
'Where you go?'
*furtive roll of eyes* 'You know the Roma Congress?'
'Via Prenenstina?'
'Yes'
'Is far, you sure you want train? It's a long time, get the shuttle, €30'
'I'm on a budget'
*shrug, pout* '€12 to Termini alone, we take you the whole way for €30, door to door'
Who can resist the Italian shrug? I've never come across anything else which put across the 'YOU FOOL' concept better than that. I gave in and the shuttle driver appeared a few minutes later and led myself and an older couple down to his minibus.
Being the sharp thing that I am, I twig the older couples US accents, oh yes, I have ears. All is peaceful initially, then I feel a pat on the shoulder:
'So where you from da'al?'
'Oh, er, I'm from London'
'LONDON? How lovely!'
'Where are you guys from?'
'Oh we're from the US, Indiana'
The rest of the conversation revolved around the difference in cost between me visiting Rome and them visiting. I think my flights with Easyjet came to about £60 all told, theirs cost $1000 a piece! Hence they were travelling Italy for 40 days. Despite their ages (63 and 65) I got the impression that they were a relatively new couple, she had been to Rome before with her ex husband and kids. I also got the impression that the guy was perhaps a less than willing travel partner, a fact that she chose to ignore, 'I've been to 23 countries!!' she proudly proclaimed.
I never caught their names, but they seemed a nice couple.
They got dropped off somewhere close to central Rome and we started the trip to my hotel. It went on, and on, and on, and on, and on........................and on. The further we got from the centre of Rome the more I began to despair, how was I going to do this trip every day without driving? I also became increasingly amazed that I was only being charged €30. At the end of the day, despite my silent cursing of the Italian trio at 'Informazione' (shuttlebus company in disguise), I'm glad I took that shuttlebus. Had I taken a bus to the hotel I would have missed the stop I needed, wandered around helpless for a while and finally collapsed in a ditch somewhere. What kept me going was the thought of the hotel in Florence, a stones throw from the station and the centre.
Once we finally arrived at the hotel and I checked in, I just felt like crawling into bed and staying there for 3 days, but fear not, after a shower and a chnage of clothes (immediately feeling human again) I trotted downstairs to harangue the hotel staff about local public transport. They had a leaflet explaining that they had daily shuttlebuses to Rome Centrale €4 each way, and I was almost resigned to paying this every day. Then I grew some balls and thought 'No!! I have this bloddy travelcard, I'm going to use it!' but not yet, I went for food first :o)
They have a snack bar at the hotel 'Zero Sei', or 'Zero Six', I don't know either. The lovely little chappy serving said his special today was lasagne with chicken salad, my tummy grumbled a yes in reply and I sat down to wait for my meal. Espresso for afterwards. If you just order a 'normal' coffee in Italy you get an espresso. If you want a long coffee you have to order Caffe Americano. I was a bit high after my caffeine hit, but that didn't stop me going back to laze around in my room for a bit. It was late afternoon and I wasn't sure I had the strength or enthusiasm to trek into Rome at this time of the day, so I spent some time planning what I'd do with my whole days to explore. Here is what I came up with:
Thursday: Colosseo, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II via the ruins of the Foro Romano, Pantheon and then Piazza Novona.
Friday: Piazza St Pietro and the Vatican City, Castel S. Angelo, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza de Spagne and Villa Borghese.
You like my pik-tures? :o) ha ha.
I was ready to faff around all evening, but then a terrifying thought struck me....shite! The good thing about the travelcards here is that you buy them, and then you validate them the first time ou use them, and they're valid for however long after that, mine for 2 days. However, you have to validate them within 24 hours of purchase. I bought mine at 10:30am, which meant that I'd have to be up and out and on the bus before 10:30am in the morning. Chances are that I would be, but I'll be damned if I'm setting my alarm on holidays, and you never know how late I might sleep. Gave me the kick I needed to egt my ass out of the hotel room and go exploring.
On my first go I missed the bus-stop completely, so concerned was I at the lack of pavement, and the prolific spread of broken glass in conjunction with my sandaled feet. Anyone who has crossed a road in Italy must realise how nuts it is to be walking down the side of a busy street with NO pavement! I eventually found it on my walk back up towards the hotel, and jumped on the next 508 to validate my ticket. Seeing as I was on the bus now I thought I'd check out this Ponte Mammolo and the Metro B. Turns out it exists!! Huzzah.
I got back to the hotel quite pleased with my activity and cursing the sun. It was still very warm even at about 7 in the evening, and my sun lotion was very greasy. People had been using my forehead as a mirror all day.
The outward journey was done, looking forward to my first day of adventure tomorrow.
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