Worst airport experience welcomed us to Roma

17th October 2014

Buon Giorno!

Yay! We have landed at Leonardo Da Vinci airport, Rome, expecting great weather, comfort of a nice airport, where we can stretch our legs, get ready to see the beautiful Rome.

Alas! We were instead welcomed by an overcrowded airport thats horribly managed.

Being spoilt by Changi airport's amazing effectiveness does not help. The fact that we were expecting something better from an advanced European capital also didnt help.

It was the worst airport experience we ever had. Hot, dusty, crowded. We waited almost an hour for the immigration check, and the queue was unmanaged, overcrowded and messy.

Packed like sardines is appropriate description.

We also couldn't find the baggage claim belt because there was no main LCD panel indicating all the baggage claim information, We had to check one belt by one belt. And it was a long walk from the first belt to the last. And ours was the last! And again it was so crowded. I kept banging into people. I started to wonder if I were actually in some small Indon city airport. 

ok, enough about horrible airport.

Buon Giorno again!!

Now I am waiting for Italian brunch. Ravenous!!

 Perched on a hill, Gianicolo, we had brunch at a terrace with magnificent view of the city.

Loved the fact that all the sandwiches have mozzarella in it. Delicioso!

Next we visited the colossal colosseum!

Sheldon kept saying how broken the castle is haha. I must say it was really a gigantic piece of very important ancient ruins.

Apparently it used to look really majestic with beautiful marble slabs, decorations and sculptures of precious metals but these were stolen and reused elsewhere so we are with just rocky ruins.

It was crowded and also a big place to explore so we took an hour or more here. Pretty tiring but it was very memorable.

We then had dinner at this Tre Scalini at a pretty plaza Navona with 3 fountains.

Not Trevi but pretty all the same. The pasta and tartuffo were amazing.

And with that we ended the day. Sheldon was jetlagged and we were all exhausted.

So far we found Rome not the type of city thats easily likable or irresistibly charming like Barcelona.

But I have a feeling it's a city that needs time to be discovered, to be loved.

It certainly is a very crowded capital. Numerous population with narrow streets don't make a good combination.

Like falling in love slowly. I am excited to know what the next day will enfold for us.