How good would it be to go to Rome to support Scotland in
the Rugby Six Nations? Great you would think. Catastrophe
number 1 - For this particular
weekend there were no direct flights to Rome so in order to travel the most
cost efficient way, we ended up going from Glasgow -> Romania – Romania ->
Rome. Ok a bit inconvenient, but not an actual
catastrophe. Spoke too soon, as the
first disaster struck when the flight to
Romania was delayed for half an hour (again not too much of an issue ) but it
did mean that on arrival we were
required to sprint the entire length of the airport and only JUST
made the second flight.
Catastrophe number 2
- Leaving behind some beautiful blue skies in Glasgow that morning, we arrived
in the not so sunny Rome. In fact there was torrential rain AND to top it all
off thunder & lightning. Ok, so tomorrow is another day and it might look
different when we wake up – that was if we ever actually got the chance to
sleep and subsequently wake up! When we
reached our hotel we were greeted by the receptionist who informed us that the
whole top floor -where our room was located- had been affected by the weather
and was completely flooded and therefore
they had no other room for us!
Now bearing in mind we had travelled - via Romania – early in the morning and had been up since 6am and it was now 8pm, this was the last thing we needed. She very helpfully told us she could transfer us to the sister hotel for no extra cost and, in the manner of good customer relations, the hotel would provide us with a taxi.
The final day of our trip was the rugby day! As many of you
may know, this was a successful day for Scotland making the trip worthwhile.
Prior to the game, we wandered the streets outside Stadio Olimpico meeting many
friendly Scottish and Italians which added to the buzzing atmosphere. Like I
said it was a successful game with Scotland winning 36-20. At around midnight,
after one too many
celebration drinks, we headed in a taxi home as we were up
at 4am to catch our flight! Catastrophe
number 5 - After 45 minutes in the
taxi (bearing in mind we were in a bar only 25 minutes from our hotel), it
appeared there had been a misunderstanding with the taxi driver and we were
actually an hour further away from our hotel…. Arriving at the hotel 1 hour and
45 minutes later, 115 euros down, we decided to just get packed up and head
straight to the airport.
Now bearing in mind we had travelled - via Romania – early in the morning and had been up since 6am and it was now 8pm, this was the last thing we needed. She very helpfully told us she could transfer us to the sister hotel for no extra cost and, in the manner of good customer relations, the hotel would provide us with a taxi.
Catastrophe number 3 - When we arrived there it was very clear as
to why we were charged no extra cost, the hotel we had been moved to what could
only be described as an Italian equivalent of Faulty Towers! We arrived over at the hotel around 9:15pm at
which point we were absolutely starving. Very helpfully – not - were told the
restaurant would be closing at 10pm. As we were soaked through to the skin, we
ran upstairs to get changed before heading to the restaurant. When we got there
the restaurant was closed (despite
it only being 9:30pm!!!). After speaking to a very pissed off, restaurant
manager, he let us in although we were “just to be given what they had left.”
As we were starving this wasn’t exactly an issue… until we were given a plate
of cheese, followed by a plate of ham. My assertive ‘hangry’ side took over as my patience was running as thin as the
ham they had provided and I requested a bowl of salad, a basket of bread and
also decided a bottle of wine was necessary to get through this catastrophic
start to our trip. Finishing the ‘meal’ we got up to leave to find out the
leftovers we had been given had come to a grand total of 65 euros. As we were
all past the point of caring, we paid the bill and headed to bed.
The next morning, we headed back to the hotel we were meant
to be staying at. We were taken to our rooms which were lovely with their huge
balconies and lovely views. As the sun was beaming, we headed off to explore
the city. I’m happy to inform that the day went smoothly and we had the most
amazing time! As we only had one day in the city we tried to see as many sites
as possible, my favourites were;
·
The Colosseum
·
Trevi Fountain
·
Pantheon
·
Altare Della Patria
Here is a link for the top things to do in Rome advised by
Trip Advisor; https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g187791-Activities-oa30-Rome_Lazio.html#ATTRACTION_LIST
We came across many more but the thing I enjoyed the most
was relaxing in a cafe on one of the beautiful streets, enjoying the glorious
sunshine sipping on a wee glass of wineJ
The atmosphere over there was amazing and every second person we walked past
was wearing a kilt. It almost felt like we were in Scotland except the weather
was warm and we were surrounded by lovely Roman streets.
I think I spoke too soon when I said things were running smoothly...
Upon arriving back at our hotel that night we were greeted
by hundreds and hundreds of ANTS happily crawling around our room. We realised
this must’ve been caused by the damp from the night before and were going to be
a bit accommodating (see what I did there?) and my boyfriend – or knight in not
so shining armour - happily became like
the exterminator with a can of my hairspray which he happily finished trying to
annihilate these very friendly Italian ants.
Catastrophe number 4 - finding
them crawling on to the bed we decided we needed out of there!
Trying to talk to the receptionist was up there with one of
the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Due to the fact he spoke ZERO English! I was left trying to carry out my greatest
acting skills and was gesticulating wildly (a bit like Bail Faulty actually) so
that he would understand our room was infested by ants. Finally he understood. As they had no other rooms, we were sent back
off to Faulty Towers again :-) :-) :-) All jokes aside, the
hotel we were heading back to seemed like 5 star luxury in comparison to the
ant invaded room!!
When we arrived at the airport we handed over the money whilst
escaping from the taxi only for the driver to tell us that the 50 euros must’ve
flown away!!! After scrambling about on the floor and under the chairs, in our
ridiculously stupid, naive, intoxicated ways, we then handed over a second 50
euro note! We didn’t really have a choice unless we wanted to engage with the
Italian police. Bang went the last of our spending money which was ok as we
were just heading home!
A bit flustered, we headed in to security! Once we had
emptied our toiletries, jewellery, money, phones etc. into the trays, we were
asked for our boarding cards to find out we were in the WRONG BLOODY AIRPORT- Catastrophe number 6. At
this point, we had been awake almost 24 hours and I think a small tear may have
left my eye. So off we headed to another taxi which thankfully took us to the
correct airport (another 70 euros) but
to our escape where we finally boarded the flight!
Obviously in this post I have just listed all the catastrophic
moments but it was all worth the laugh it gives us now! It was genuinely one of
the best trips I have been on and I would absolutely love to go back to the
beautiful city!
I have to add, I have visited Italy 4 times now and the food
has been one of the best parts! It’s terrible to say but I can’t actually
remember names of places we ate out on our visit, they were all lovely though
so I have attached another trip advisor link on places to eat! https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g187791-Rome_Lazio.html
Thanks again for taking your time to read,
Daisy J xx
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