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| Vittore Emmanuelle |
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| Piazza Navona |
When I awoke about 36
hours ago, I didn't know what to expect from my day of travel. My seat on my
connecting flight was unconfirmed and I did not know what to do about my
luggage when I connected to a different airline. Not to mention, I would be spending
4 sleepy hours in an airport that was in a country whose language I don't know.
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| Piazza Navona |
Quickly, though, the day
turned into a great one for travel. While checking in for my flight to
Frankfurt online, I upgraded to United's Economy Plus, which just means more
leg room. I took a seat in front of an exit row so I could recline. When we
boarded the plane, the flight attendant saw that my row was full, but the exit
row was empty, so she switched me. The seats didn't recline but I was able to
curl up just enough to be comfortable on three seats. I even managed to sleep
about 2 hours. I saw the movie "Admission" with Tina Fey, tried to
watch "The Guilt Trip" with Seth Rogen (blatantly unwatchable), and
fell asleep watching "Gangster Squad" with Sean Penn.
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| The Pantheon |
While dropping off my
bag at the airport, I was given a seat assignment on my connecting flight, and
my bag was checked through. The Frankfurt Airport was easy to manage, had
plenty of pretzels and other baked goods, and the flight came with an empty
seat next to me.
Upon arrival in Rome, I
went straight to the Hilton Rome Airport Hotel to check in. They upgraded me to
an executive room with access to the executive lounge. That’s when I took a two
hour slumber with the blackout curtains keeping the room dark as night.
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Il Coloseo |
When I got up, I really
wanted to just stay in and chill. But how could I pass up an opportunity to
head into Rome for dinner. The hotel had a shuttle that when it left was
driving through a rain storm. By the time we got to the center of Rome, the
rain was done and I was able to stay dry in my 2-hour sprint around the
historic city.
I saw the Memorial to
Vittorio Emmanuelle where my dad had served as a guard, The Pantheon, Piazza
Navona, and the Trevi Fountain. From the shuttle bus I also saw the Circus
Maximus, Foro Romano, Il Coloseo, and the Arch of Constantine. All in all it
was a fun outing in which I probably walked about 4 miles and managed to eat a
good dinner.
