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Location Date British Columbia 1404255600 Alberta 1403823600 Georgia (Usa)
1328745600 - Rome
The taxi picked us up at the fairly civilised hour of 11 am and we were soon at Gatwick, through all the formalities and enjoying a pre-flight drink and snack in the BA lounge. Oh the joys of silver membership!
The flight was on time and completely full. We suspect that there were quite a number of other rugby supporters amongst those on board! As we arrived in Rome the sun was setting over the sea, a beautiful, peaceful sight. Once in the airport it was anything but beautiful and peaceful. In fact it was jam packed with bustling, noisy humanity. The whole world must be coming to Rome this weekend!
After struggling through with our luggage we encountered our first little hiccup. The ATM machines don't speak English! Oh yes, it said 'English' on the button, but no matter how often you pressed it didn't work! Eventually it was down to pick a language (any language!) and just muddle through. Next problem was that the machine insisted that our NatWest cards could not be used overseas. Have you ever tried having an argument with a machine? Don't bother! Luckily we had other cards to try, but nonetheless frustrating.
We took a taxi into the town and enjoyed glimpses of many impressive sights along the way. We arrived at the Visconti Palace hotel and found our room. We were really pleased as it was very spacious with its own sitting room. It was on the first floor, a corner room with floor to ceiling windows on both sides. Very nice! The only down side was no tea and coffee making facilities but you can't have everything!
Amanda was exploring the bathroom. A bidet, very interesting ... complete with a little bottle labelled 'intimate cleanser'! After further exploration she found an interesting cord over the bath. Was it a heater? a light? an extractor fan? She pulled it and a green light came on but nothing else interesting so she promptly forgot about it. About half an hour later the hotel staff 'rushed' in to rescue her. Apparently the cord over the bath was an alarm. Amanda was very glad that it had not been a real emergency!
We both went down into the hotel bar and enjoyed a glass or three of red wine before retiring for the night. A very good start to Rome!
The flight was on time and completely full. We suspect that there were quite a number of other rugby supporters amongst those on board! As we arrived in Rome the sun was setting over the sea, a beautiful, peaceful sight. Once in the airport it was anything but beautiful and peaceful. In fact it was jam packed with bustling, noisy humanity. The whole world must be coming to Rome this weekend!
After struggling through with our luggage we encountered our first little hiccup. The ATM machines don't speak English! Oh yes, it said 'English' on the button, but no matter how often you pressed it didn't work! Eventually it was down to pick a language (any language!) and just muddle through. Next problem was that the machine insisted that our NatWest cards could not be used overseas. Have you ever tried having an argument with a machine? Don't bother! Luckily we had other cards to try, but nonetheless frustrating.
We took a taxi into the town and enjoyed glimpses of many impressive sights along the way. We arrived at the Visconti Palace hotel and found our room. We were really pleased as it was very spacious with its own sitting room. It was on the first floor, a corner room with floor to ceiling windows on both sides. Very nice! The only down side was no tea and coffee making facilities but you can't have everything!
Amanda was exploring the bathroom. A bidet, very interesting ... complete with a little bottle labelled 'intimate cleanser'! After further exploration she found an interesting cord over the bath. Was it a heater? a light? an extractor fan? She pulled it and a green light came on but nothing else interesting so she promptly forgot about it. About half an hour later the hotel staff 'rushed' in to rescue her. Apparently the cord over the bath was an alarm. Amanda was very glad that it had not been a real emergency!
We both went down into the hotel bar and enjoyed a glass or three of red wine before retiring for the night. A very good start to Rome!
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