FROM ROME, ITALY

(click on images to enlarge)

Cold & Rainy Rome

ROME, Italy, May 13, 2008 - You know the old saying, "when in Rome do as Romans do?"  Well, today that meant ducking rain. 

Take a look what our landing vistas were at Rome's Fumicino airport (left two shots).  With some imagination and a map (see above), one might had discerned that there was a Tyrrhenian Sea somewhere out there.  :-) Views from our approach to Rome were actually better.  So it seemed that the rain had particularly socked in the Italian capital today.

When my checked bag arrived today at Rome's Fumicino airport, named now Leonardo Da Vinci airport, it looked as if it had floated across the Adriatic Sea.  Outside the airport, Signor Da Vinci is welcoming all travelers and passers by.  I am staying tonight at a Hilton hotel nearby for the first time, as I have a morning flight to catch tomorrow to Newark (NJ). 

By the way, Serbia's national volleyball team was on the Alitalia flight I took from Belgrade today (right).  They made me feel as if I were traveling with a bunch of trees. :-)

This Is Italy!

ROME, Italy, May 14, 2008 - What is it with Europe and T5’s?  Troubles at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 have been well known and widely publicized.  But I have just experienced the same or worse hassles at Rome’s T5 – a new hub that has been built especially for U.S. air carriers.

First, it took a long walk, two cattle drive-like bus rides - all with bags in tow, and a train just to get to this T5.  What followed was long security lines and three passport checkpoints.  By the time you are through all that you feel like a sausage - thoroughly processed.  It’s a good thing I allowed enough time before my flight.  All this took over an hour.  And that's just to get from the airport curb to the terminal.

So you think, the worst if over.  I’ll go to the lounge, connect to the internet, do some work, relax, and then board the flight.  Right?  Wrong! 

First, I was flying Continental Air so was naturally looking for their lounge.  It didn't exist.  Yet nobody tells you that ALL airlines use the Alitalia lounge and that it is the ONLY lounge at the wretched T5.  Chalk up another 10 mins to figure that out. 

“Do you have the wireless connection here?” you ask the attendant after you’ve finally made it to the lounge.

“Yes.  But you have to pay by credit card.”

“Pay at an airport?  This is a first one for me,” you exclaim.

“This is Italy,” she said with a shrug.

In a few minutes you will find out that you should take “this is Italy” statements in this country as serious warnings.

First, the lounge was really godawful  I've seen student cafeterias that were better.  Second, the wireless connection did NOT work, pay or not pay.

So you walk back to the reception and you tell them that.

“It’s working,” the pretty but unhelpful girl insists.

“No it is not.  Not just for me.  It is not working for any other passengers in the business center.”

“I see.  I did not know that.”

“Well, now that you do, are you going to do something about it?”

“No.”

This is Italy.

But wait.  That was not all.  The boarding was being delayed without any explanations.  When I asked if that meant we would be late departing, an Alitalia staff member replied, "maybe a little." 

Well, actually it wasn't bad.  "Un poco."  Maybe 15 mins.  But they asked to see our passports twice more. So that's five passport checkpoints before you're allowed to leave the country.

Now, this is Italy!

A Delightful Continental Flight

Whatever hassles one experienced on the ground in Rome soon dissipated after we took off on a Continental Air Boeing 777, bound from Rome to Newark, NJ.  I had a bad experience on Continental back in 1986 on a flight from LA t0 Sydney (Australia) via Honolulu, and have not flown on them since.  (By the way, interesting how long memories of bad flights can last, huh?  You'd think airlines would care to know that).

Anyway, this aircraft and its crew were absolutely delightful.  Not only was service nice and friendly, but food was also excellent.  Real gourmet dishes.  And when we landed in Newark, we received the most welcome "welcome to the U.S." message over the PA system from the head purser that I have ever heard.  She was so good and creative in what she said that I thought she may have been an actress in one of her former lives.

Before that, while we were still on our approach to Newark, she walked and shook hands of every passenger in the first and business class section, thanking them for flying Continental.  That's another first in my experience.  Well, maybe I'll reconsider my attitude toward Continental after this flight.

The arrival at the Newark airport was also a pleasant surprise.  Everything is quite and new and spacious, unlike the crowding at JFK, for example.  And even the immigration officers were nice and cheerful.  After the lady stamped my documents, she smiled and said in Serbian, "sve najbolje!"  ("all the best!").  That was delightfully surprising.  I smiled back and said "thank you."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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