Rome to Athens 9/15-10/1/2023. Episode 1 – Rome

Saturday – 9/16

We arrived in Italy on Saturday morning about 10:15 ( six hours ahead of EDT) and made our way through Border Security and customs, with a little help from a Border Security agent. None of the machines liked my passport picture (the agent tried them all) so he took me to a gate, opened it and motioned me through (where I wondered if I was going to passport jail), then quietly told me to “limp very, very big” because he had taken me through the access for those with accessibility needs and muttered something about the police as he gently pushed me forward with his hand on my back.
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> Well, hmph. What to do now?  I do have an arthritic hip and a bad knee, so I walked slowly and “favored my knee” as I walked toward passport control manned by police. After a pause of the appropriate amount of time to become uncomfortable, my passport was stamped and I was through!  Whew.
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> Genny finally came out as well.  She saw the agent taking me away and had been waiting for me to return, but when I didn’t, she decided she would go through and hope I was on the other side. Fortunately, I was!
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> After retrieving our luggage we found a cab line and there was a conflab between drivers as to who would take us. I asked the winning  driver if he took credit cards and he said yes, but when we got in the car he decided he wanted cash. I told him no – card only. He said we could stop at the bank! Once again I said card only or stop and we will go with someone else. He began shouting a bit but said okay and grumbled in Italian. When I tried to ask him to drop us on the side of the station instead of the front he quickly said “NO ENGLISH!!”, so I zipped it. But later, in his own mix of languages he began to warn us about illegal taxis, to keep our eyes open at Termini station, and other dangers. He was very melodramatic and we ended on a pleasant note when we listened to what he had to say and especially when he received a tip.  Firm but polite – Genny’s mantra when dealing with Italian men. :0)

We visited the “Left Luggage” shop where we stashed our bags, then went back out front to grab a cab to our favorite spot, Trevi Fountain. I’ve written about the fountain (both above and below ground) in past episodes of the April 2023 trip so won’t repeat any of it here, but it always fascinates and delights!

We spent a couple of hours walking in streets near the fountain, stopping for my favorite pastry and splitting a pizza at a familiar restaurant for lunch. The glass shop we wanted to visit was closed, and by the time we walked back to the other side of the fountain we were hot and jet jag was catching up, so we decided to return to Termini train station and head for the port town of Civitavecchia, about an hour Northish of Rome.

We were staying at an Airbnb, whose host had offered to pick us up at the train station if we could arrive on one of the 5 p.m. trains.  After asking the cab driver to drop us on the side of Termini Station where the rental cars – and luggage drop were (he spoke some English), we picked up our bags and went into the station, determined when the next train would go to Civitavecchia, and stood in line to buy tickets.  We then used “What’sApp” to message our Airbnb host, Fabrizio, who said he would pick us up at the station.

Episode 1 will end there, unfortunately without pictures while we wait for our train to the port. As those of you know who have traveled with me before, I write for several reasons; one is as a reminder to myself later when days are filled with sites and wonders and memories merge and details fade, one is to enable some who like to travel along mentally to experience as much as possible, and another is to be helpful to someone who may benefit from the experiences – or share some of their own in comments or emails!

I am grateful that you have chosen to join us. If you put your email address at the bottom and click the “Subscribe” button, I think you are supposed to get an email when a post is made. I hope that is the only thing that happens – perhaps someone can let me know.

Please feel free to comment or to send emails to ramblealong@yahoo.com, or to mine or Genny’s personal emails if you have them. We love reading your reactions, tips, thoughts, and prayers.

And as always, we want to express gratitude for the opportunities to experience a little of God’s big world and people, who are remarkably alike no matter where we go, and who – all of us – are in equal need of His great Grace and gift of salvation through Jesus.

Much love from Italy.