The Binnies 'do' Rome, not a hooligan in sight.

[MATTBIN]

We did Rome over Easter and here are my thoughts about the trip in case anyone else is thinking of doing the same.
First off, I'm a fussy old git and I doubt I would ever find perfection in anything, so take that on board straight away.

The arrangements
I booked the trip up using Expedia, return flight via Alitalia, BA was about the same price, I just thought Alitalia being the national carrier might be better (more on that later). Heathrow rather than EasyJet out of Luton/Gatwick as I wanted to do it with a bit of style, Heathrow allowed me to drive us and also book an Exec lounge to get away from all the other people. My wife isnt a good flier and the last thing she needs is a load of other people getting on her wick, the flight was scheduled for 9:30 am outward and 17:10 inbound, unfortunately I couldnt book the exec lounge on the way back. I also chose the better (for us) food option of fruit/veggie instead of fish/curry etc.
The hotel was the 4 star Trilussa Palace in Travestere, a place more suited to locals than tourists (so their website said) and not a chain hotel, I chose a room with AC and breakfast plus Queen sized double bed. This was after all my wifes birthday treat.
I also booked up transport to/from Rome Airport to the Hotel to avoid any further stress inducing worries to jangle the wife's pre-flight nerves.
Everything went extremely smoothly on the Expedia site, flights etc were confirmed (seats to be allocated on arrival/check-in apparently).

The Trip
We arrived at Heathrow, parked teh car, caught the shuttle bus all in good time i.e. 1 3/4 hrs early. Checked in and headed for the departure lounge, passport control etc went smoothly, apart from having to dump a full sealed bottle of water into a bin, new security measues were to blame, not a big deal really but a tad annoying as we were unaware of the restrictions on water. Up to the lounge a nice peacefull wait, it was then I noticed we had different seats, different in as much that they were different rows!!! so much for alloting us our seats on arrival, or even advising us of the seat positions. Wife starts to get very nervous about sitting between 2 people she doesnt even know. I sorted it out on the plane, very kindly a lady allowed us to swap window seats so we ended up in the same row, but I wasnt too impressed with Alitalias idea of seat allocation. One family were seperated by 7 rows. Flight was ok, pre-arranged meal was a figment of my imagination apparently, they only do one breakfast meal, take it or leave it, I left it, so did a lot of other people. They suggested it was for the return flight.
We were met at the airport and ferried to our hotel, be nice though if someone told Italian cab drivers one hand on the wheel is regarded as a UK minimum as is not being on a mobile (not hands free obviously) whilst jesticulating to the other person with the 'spare' hand. Speed is something Italian race drivers do for a living, cab drivers dont need to be quite so fast or cavalier with their charges, I felt we were fortunate to arrive in one piece.
The Hotel is in an area that is Ok, bit of graffitti here and their and not as bad as some of the other areas we sped through on our way in. The room itself was fine and had a lovely bathroom. I couldnt get the AC to work, it was 25c in our room, neither was their any tea/coffee making facilities (which we have come to expect as fairly standard in the UK havent we?) Oh well we werent in the UK so why should we take things for granted. Apparently the AC doesnt get turned on until June/July in most Italian hotels, according to room service anyway, I may check that out later. The Hotel was very close to a bus/tram stop which whilst being perfect for getting around did mean the window in the room had to be left closed at night so we could get to sleep, or might have done had the room not been quite so hot (no AC remember!!). So far I was less than impressed, but just accepted these things happen in Italy and didnt want to spoil the break.

The Visits to the Sites.

Later, need to go to the Dentist to get a broken tooth fixed!!

Matt

[Buoyant Babe]

Hi Matt

I hope the rest of your trip got a bit better and that you enjoyed the Travestere area, despite the misgivings with your hotel.

I never did get round to sending you the name of that restaurant so I hope you had some nice meals anyway.

Sorry to hear you've got a bad tooth.

Helen xxx

[Mal Bridgeman]

Originally Posted by MATTBIN

Later, need to go to the Dentist to get a broken tooth fixed!!

Matt

Hi Matt

I had a raging tooth ache all weekend .... held in control with excessive amounts of IBUPROFEN and got an appointment yesterday to start root canal treatment & all at the same time.

I have no pain today and am a much nicer person to be with.

BTW nice report about Rome

Mal

[Adrian Kelland]

Hi Matt,

No tea/coffee facilities in rooms is not particularly unusual in many places. It can be annoying, but these things are usually mentioned in brochures/websites.

I don't know how you missed all the news about restrictions on liquids at security.

Hope the tooth business goes OK.

Adrian

[GLOC]

Originally Posted by MATTBIN

....the flight was scheduled for 9:30 am outward and 17:10 inbound....Flight was ok, pre-arranged meal was a figment of my imagination apparently, they only do one breakfast meal, take it or leave it, I left it, so did a lot of other people. They suggested it was for the return flight.

Matt

Matt, I regularily fly down to Toulouse with BA and for a morning flight all you get is an egg mayonnaise and bacon sandwich and an evening flight is a biscuit! If you are in Club Europe you get a 'proper' meal but then the costs are more than they are worth. I wouldn't be surprised that you didn't get much. Sorry.

I also tick veggie asian meal but that means squat on the short haul flights

I also agree with Adrian re: the liquids thing, water is a liquid The galling thing is you can buy the same stuff the other side of the security check!

Hope the tooth gets better soon.

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by GLOC

I also agree with Adrian re: the liquids thing, water is a liquid The galling thing is you can buy the same stuff the other side of the security check!

The most annoying thing for me is that despite there being the same restrictions EU wide now, it's only UK airports where there's always a queue. Took 20+ mins at Heathrow on Friday and about 2 mins at Copenhagen on Monday.

Jason

[GLOC]

Originally Posted by JasonP

The most annoying thing for me is that despite there being the same restrictions EU wide now, it's only UK airports where there's always a queue. Took 20+ mins at Heathrow on Friday and about 2 mins at Copenhagen on Monday.

Jason

Try any late afternoon/evening flight out of Toulouse! 20 mins getting through the officious b*stards there!

Although Salzburg on Saturday was 3-4 mins.

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by GLOC

Try any late afternoon/evening flight out of Toulouse! 20 mins getting through the officious b*stards there!

Although Salzburg on Saturday was 3-4 mins.

But at Heathrow it's not because they're officious, it's because they've got about half the staff they need, with half the x-ray machines unmanned. But then what do you expect when one company has more or less got a monopoly in the region.

Bali airport still wins hands down on queues though.

Jason

[Finless]

That was a FOUR STAR hotel? I've been in better guest houses by the sound of it?

Matt, are you trying to tell us ............ or your wife, for that matter, anything by booking a queen size bed?

[Scubee]

Originally Posted by JasonP

The most annoying thing for me is that despite there being the same restrictions EU wide now, it's only UK airports where there's always a queue. Took 20+ mins at Heathrow on Friday and about 2 mins at Copenhagen on Monday.

Jason

Last month it was 15 mins at Heathrow and 30 minutes at Geneva