Month: November 2017

Our apartment is in a neighborhood of Rome called  Trastevere (tras-TEV-e-rey).  It sits on the West side of the Tiber River just south of Vatican City. The name literally means, “beyond the Tiber”; before the Roman period the area was inhabited by the Etruscans.

It is a charming neighborhood, with a labyrinth of narrow, winding cobblestone streets that lead to wonderfully inexpensive restaurants and has a character all its own.  Our apartment at Vicolo della Torre 13 (Alley of the Tower) resides on a tiny dead-end street along with with a handful of ancient looking homes.  It’s a stones throw from the main street, Viale di Trastevere, and a one minute walk to the Tiber River.  The closest Tiber River crossing is the “Ponte Garibaldi”, which leads you almost directly to the door of the church of Santa Maria in the Cosmedin, which contains the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) that was featured prominently in movies such as “Roman Holiday” and “Only You”.   We can walk just about anywhere you can think of in less than 20 minutes.  Location, location, location!

One of the most famous structures in all Rome is located just a stone’s throw from our apartment.  It is the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. It is one of the oldest churches in Rome whose beginnings date back to the 340s AD.  We visited it yesterday and it was impressive.  Of course it has been renovated and rebuilt many times over the years; some of the oldest structures/artwork seen date from the 12th century.  The church also contains many famous burials as well as two holy relics: the head of Saint Apollonia and a portion of the “Holy Sponge”.

Today we’re planning to visit the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain.  Translation: we’re going back to one of our favorite gelato places!

Lastly the luggage situation: haven’t heard a word from British Air.  I purchased razors, vitamins and such this morning.  I am keeping all of the receipts.

The person we rented the apartment from wrote a lovely guide to help us find services in the area.  She recommended that we use Conad as our local supermarket.  Wanting some food in the house we walked down Viale di Trastevere to where Google said we should find it and all we saw was a clothing store.  A check of the map indicated that we were in the right place.  Perplexed, we walked up and down the street for a few blocks in both directions thinking either we missed it or it was a little further.  No joy.  Just when we had decided that the grocery had closed and been replaced by a clothing store we noticed a small sign inside the clothing store that said, “Conad”.  Surprisingly to us the grocery turned out to be in the basement of the clothing store.  Who figured.

(Our neighborhood grocery store)

In the afternoon we walked the streets of Rome going wherever the meandering streets took us. Uncharacteristically for us we were still at it after dark.  I guess it’s easier to stay out late when you no longer have to get up at the crack of dawn for work.

(Tiber River bridge with St. Peter’s in the background)

I chased British Air all morning for news of my luggage.  “It’s on the next plane” seems to be their standard answer to just about any question.  Once again I heard how it had been found in Las Vegas and was supposed to be sent to Rome via London.  No one had any idea of where it was or whether it had even left Las Vegas, but I should rest assured that the minute it arrived in Rome I would be notified.  While we were out I bought some toiletries and two days worth of clothing; I will be sending the bills to British Air.

 

 

It was quite a trip.  We made it and (most) things are good.  Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good: We made it!  The apartment is very nice and Trastevere (the neighborhood in Rome where we are staying) is even more charming than we expected.  There is a gelato store within 50 feet of our place and an uncountable number of restaurants nearby.  We ate at a place that, according to google, was 85 feet from our front door.  The food was great and it was inexpensive.  You gotta love Rome!

The bad: It was a long day of travel.  Our flight from Las Vegas started at 7:00 pm (local time) and took ten hours to reach London.  The airplane, a Boeing 747-400, was very warm and there were no air nozzles at the seats; I’ve never seen that before.  We waited for a gate at Heathrow for 20 minutes; after a ten hour flight it was exasperating.  We just wanted to get off and stretch our legs.

At Heathrow we had to change to the Domestic terminal.  For some reason it meant we had to go through airport screening again.   We had a two+ hour layover and so we made it in plenty of time.  Our flight boarded on time but for unknown reasons our departure was delayed for 45 minutes.  Shockingly our arrival was still on time.  I know no airline wants their on-time record to look bad so they pad their schedules but putting an extra 45 minutes on a two hour flight seems extreme.

As expected it took over an hour to get through immigration at Fiumicino airport but it was worth it because we got our first stamps in our brand new passports!

The ugly: we’re still missing one (Marc’s) bag from British Airways.  According to the airline it was “lost” in Las Vegas but has since been found.  It was supposed to arrive on the “next flight” last night so we waited for it but it never showed up.  Since it was late (8:45 pm local time) and it had already been a very long day we decided to head into Rome.  As of this morning the status is unchanged; it’s still showing as, “on the next flight”.  I followed up with the airline this morning and no one can tell us if it ever left Las Vegas, whether it made it to London, etc.  In the meantime I can spend “any reasonable amount” on clothing and toiletries and British Air will reimburse me.  My confidence is low.

Today we leave the U.S. for Italy.  We’ve had a wonderful time visiting with family for the past two months but now it’s time to get the show on the road.  The first leg of our trip is a 10 hour flight from Las Vegas to London.  After a two hour layover we’ll depart for Rome.

Our initial destination is Trastevere, a neighborhood in Rome on the west side of the Tiber just south of Vatican City.  We plan to be there for three months.

Look in on us for frequent updates.