The square is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, which explains its unique long, oval shape that followed the lines of the ancient open arena. Today, it is renowned for its three magnificent fountains, including Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, and it remains a popular gathering spot for artists, street performers, and travelers from around the world. We plan to spend some of the afternoon here.
This is the fourth time that phrase has appeared in this blog because this is our fourth visit to Rome. That phrase originated as a nod to Augustus Caesar’s golden milestone and 50,000 miles of stone highway, all leading to Rome. For us, every trip to Italy begins and/or ends from this city. And that’s just fine with us.
Yesterday, however, the road to Rome was fraught. We arrived at the Catania airport about 10 a.m. and checked our bags with Ryanair and planned to wait at the gate. But that’s not what they do there for people using the wheelchair service in the airport. Betsy can walk, but not for long distances carrying baggage. And, it’s more the standing for long periods, like in security lines, that is difficult for her. All that’s getting better, but we aren’t quite there yet. So, we booked assistance through the airport. At first it seemed great. They took us to a special security gate and we moved right through and then into a waiting area…where we waited…and waited…and waited.
For almost three hours we waited in that hot and stuffy room. No water, no information. We watched people come and go and saw at least 20 employees of what seemed to be the wheelchair transport team sitting around watching their phones. About 30 minutes before flight departure time, I asked someone, using Google Translate, for some information and the response was, “It’s okay, you are in the right place.” About 10 minutes before our flight departure, the panic started setting in. One kind soul took notice and began making calls. Turns out our flight was delayed, but there were no announcements, no screens, no update in the Ryanair app, so we had no idea. Finally, someone did get us to the plane.
A note about Ryanair: We’ve had trouble with our seats on both flights this trip. Each time, we purchased premium seats in the front of the plane and each time they’ve moved us and attempted to separate us. The first time, it wasn’t a big deal because we were able to get someone to swap and allow us to sit together. This time, we were moved apart to the back of the plane out of the premium seats and separated, but after pleading with a flight attendant, she at least seated us together. Between the two flights, I wasted about $150 buying seats we didn’t get. We will be avoiding Ryanair in the future.
Landing in Rome was a relief. The transport service there for Betsy was flawless and even took her all the way to the car of the private driver we booked to get us to the apartment. Our driver was so nice and the ride to the apartment was a pleasure. The apartment is wonderful, just steps away from the Pantheon. The building includes a hotel and is safe and taxis are right out front, which is a big help to us this time since we’re not walking like we once did.
The apartment is lovely. We have a a good view and double-paned windows that shut out the noice at night. We feel relaxed in the heart of this busy city. Allegra, a college student, helps manage the apartment and lives right next door. Having managed our own vacation rentals in Nashville, we aren’t needy guests, but there is something really comforting knowing that assistance is literally just a few feet away while also having privacy.
Last night, we ate at a family-owned restaurant, just a short taxi ride from our apartment. We were celebrating our 37th anniversary and it was so much fun. The service, food and wine were all perfect. Over the holidays, we spent a night in Atlanta and ate a restaurant owned by Scott Conant, one of Food Network’s star chefs. There, we had a white wine made from pecorino grapes, which we didn’t even know existed. We thought pecorino was only a type of cheese. We love this wine. It’s crisp and clean and delicious. We are going to find some to stuff in our suitcase to bring home.
Today isn’t going to be busy for us. A great perk of four visits to the same city is that we’ve already done everything on our tourist checklist. We’ll likely spend some time outside at a cafe. The sun is shining and it should warm up to the 60s by the afternoon before the clouds roll in. Tonight, we plan to see an “opera lite” performance, just the greatest hits. We did something similar a few years ago and it was fun.
Kim & Betsy 