IN ROME
I’m better than this! I ought to erase that and start out another way, but I’m still brain dead from our flight.
It started in Atlanta with a 2 hour delay of our flight to Newark (we needed Captain Ivy because we got to the airport without delay). At first I thought perhaps they were keeping the airspaces clear for Special Flight 41 which was taking President George H. W. Bush’s body to our nation’s capital for funeral things. But it was because of severe winds in the Newark/New York area and they wanted to keep a good space between planes. Once we lost our take-off time, we had to be worked back in.
Next was another 2 hour delay in Newark. We pushed back on time, but as we were taxi-ing out, a man began to talk above the noise of the conversation and the noise of the engines, finally screaming. “Don’t hurt me! Why are you keeping me here? I don’t want to be here!” Then when flight attendants approached him he said, “Don’t hurt me! I won’t hurt you!” My very uneducated guess, and based only on the sound of his voice, was that he was a special needs individual. At any rate, he appeared to be traveling with two other men who tried to calm him, but to no avail. So secured with handcuff ties, he was taken off the plane with his friends following him.
Of course we had to taxi back to the gate and then wait for a tractor to be hooked up to us to pull us into the gate. Well, by now we had lost our place in line for take off, and it was just as well because the Captain told us that one of the communication panels in the cockpit wasn’t working and maintenance was coming to fix it. Which they did, and we taxied and lifted off 2 hours late.
En route, we encountered some of the worst turbulence we’ve ever encountered. In fact, I’m pretty sure we’ve never hit any rough air like that before. Several passengers hollered out when we bumped and jumped. I knew it was coming when the Captain said, “Flight attendants, be seated immediately!” And about 2 minutes later we experienced it. Later the Captain said that a plane in front of us had told him about it, but not in time to avoid it. There was a touch of rough weather later, but nothing out of the ordinary. A new experience we hope never to repeat.
As we flew over France, about two hours before touchdown, Bonnie looked out the window and exclaimed with delight, “Look! The Alps! And they are covered in snow!” It was a beautiful sight. I like snow when I am 30,000 feet above it and don’t have to walk in it, drive in it, or experience its cold.
Okay. Here is where the I-am-better-than-this starts. We got a taxi to bring us to our apartment, and I did what I said I would never do again – pick up a driver inside the airport. He was a gypsy cabber, safe drive, and got us to our destination, but we were way over charged. Never mind how much.
Our apartment is very nice. Our host was at work and his mother, who speaks as little English as we speak Italian, greeted us and showed us around. My plan was to go out to Ostia Antica, the remains of an ancient Italian city. It was covered with mud when the local river moved inland over the centuries and was only recently uncovered. Lots of stuff to see and all close together. The trouble is, the apartment is about 6 kilometers from Ostia, and it would have taken us over an hour to walk it. Public transportation passing by the apartment is irregular, and it gets dark here about 5 p.m., so we passed on exploring, choosing rather to nap and restore ourselves.
I don’t know what I did when I looked at the map back in February because I picked this place because of its proximity to Ostia. But not proximity enough. Oh well. Another time.
We sat out on the balcony this afternoon – glorious warm sun – and played 6 games of Yahtzee, winning 3 games each, but Mom is up by 121 total points. The battle is on!
Our host has secured a taxi to take us to a nice restaurant and the driver will wait for us to bring us back. We are looking forward to a good Italian meal of insalata mista (salad of mixed greens), spaghetti pomodoro & basilico (tomato sauce with basil) for Bonnie and either spaghetti al la carbonara (eggs and bacon) or bistecca di manzo (beef steak with potatoes) for me. And maybe dolce del giorno – dessert of the day.
Then it’s back here to sleep the sleep of the just and get ready for our driver to pick us up at 10:30 in the morning and drive us to Civitiavecchia and the Pacific Princess.
Until the next time, then.
TTFN
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