We left Dubai and flew the 5 and half hours to Rome Italy. The process of getting through the airport was a surprise. The airport was run down and filthy, with no customs check. At the passport checkpoint my passport didn’t get a second glance and was certainly not given a stamp. We had dates and figs that we thought we would need to declare but that counter was not open and we were just waved through. Finally through a set of doors we were confronted by the overwhelming mass of people all crowding to great friends and relatives with no qualms about standing between you and the exit. Welcome to Italy!
Taking a taxi from the airport our driver took us on a little tour of the famous buildings of Rome before dropping us at our hotel. Again our jaws must have been hanging on the ground. Our first glimpse of Rome blew us away. First impressions: filthy, chaos, graffiti, gorgeous shoes and crumbling ruins everywhere.
We were greeted by our tour director Giampiero, at the motel and shown to our gorgeous and surprisingly roomy accommodation which also featured a balcony that overlooked a walled park full of mature olive trees. 10 points goes to this accommodation. I was expecting the postage stamp! Instead we have two huge rooms, a huge well appointed bathroom and two double beds, one a king size double.
That evening our tour director gave us our obligatory tour brief and then we went off for a meet and great tour dinner. The meal of 5 courses was filling. We shared our table with a couple from Boston US and they were fine company. Yes my prediction was correct, the tour is all American with the exception of couple of New Zealanders , a sprinkling of Canadians and one other Australian. The average age would be I am guessing mid 50s. Our tour bus is big, comfortable and with plenty of spare seats.
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