From Sicily we take the overnight train up to Rome. But first we have to get off the island! To do this the train rolls onto tracks on a ferry and the ferry takes us to mainland Italy. At the other end, the train rolls off, onto the train tracks on solid ground. Genius! The train is good, especially as we have an ensuite cabin, but it’s also an example of Italian style over substance, for example, giving us wash bags full of little toiletries and individual bottles of prosecco to enjoy, when actually, we’d rather the cabin was given a thorough deep clean as it feels a little grubby. Nevertheless it gets us to Rome for first thing in the morning and we even get a smorgasbord of breakfast items to fuel our first day in the capital.
We find our way to the hotel and it turns out that Beth has played a blinder, finding somewhere that is spotlessly clean, central, reasonably priced and really friendly and helpful.
Beth and Bobby arrive later that night and on our first full day together we run through some of the main sites as this is their first trip to the City. We check off the Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps and Parthenon (which is trialling charging for entry, resulting in large queues to get in – Ben sidesteps these by buying tickets online for immediate entry, meaning we can go to the pre-booked queue – result!) We break the siteseeing with a real treat of posh aperativo to celebrate Beth’s birthday at the Stavinskji Bar in the Hotel de Russie. We make full use of the facilities to freshen up and also accept the waiters kind offer of more aperativo when we finish ours (no-one else is eating theirs!!)
Our main reason for coming back to Rome (aside from meeting up with Beth & Bobs, of course) is to visit the Sistine Chapel and we do this via a pre-booked, breakfast tour before the main opening. The tour takes in more of the Vatican than we were particularly interested in seeing although the fragment of moon rock brought back by the Apollo landing is a highlight. The Sistine Chapel does not disappoint and we are glad to see it before the main crowds head through as it’s busy enough with just the early bird tours. This is reinforced later as we end up going back through the chapel trying to find an Ikea-style shortcut to take us out of the Vatican complex without having to walk to far in the searing heat. The chapel is absolutely rammed like a tin of sardines and we are glad to quickly get out of it. But before that we take the opportunity to enjoy our all inclusive breakfast in the Vatican grounds. It’s a slightly surreal experience eating basically an American breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes…) in an Italian religious setting but it came as part and parcel of the early morning tour so we weren’t going to refuse! From their we head to St Paul’s Basilica which is awe-inspiring in it’s vast size, but does consequently mean that it is nowhere near as crowded as the Sistine Chapel – definitely a positive. That night we head out to celebrate Bobby’s birthday with a tomahawk steak at an awesome steak place. When they find out Bobby is a chef, the waiting staff cannot do enough for us and treat the birthday boy with something boardering on adoration! Free sides, drinks and attentive service all follow.
After all this fun, something had to go wrong and on the last day our flight home is delayed by 2.5 hours which is enough to be annoying, especially when we are kept on the plane, initially with no food or drink, but not long enough to be eligible for any compensation. We are sat next to an Italian nun who speaks no English and is trying to get hold of her brother who lives in England to tell him about the delay. She is also in need of water and I ask the stewardess to bring her some, given the delay. Even then, Ryanair charge her for the bottle! Any sort of customer service and compassion totally lacking in that company. When we finally land the change in temperature is brutal, only it’s tricky to say what we would prefer, the near 40 degree heat of Rome or the single digit temperatures of Manchester!