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Saturday, January 18, 2025

A Quick Visit to Rome

Our SEA-LHR flight on BA was pleasant and in between dinner and breakfast we managed a few hours of sleep.







We landed at LHR Terminal 5 and both read that our ongoing BA flight to Rome departed from Terminal 3. We learned there that it actually left from Terminal 5, so we took another 10-minute bus ride back there. At least we both made the same mistake.

Our BA business class tickets afforded us access to the Fast Track security lane, an oxymoron on this particular day. Brian’s rollaboard was pulled aside for extra screening just behind five other bags.

About 15 minutes later one of the employees got to it and wanted to check Brian’s toiletry bag. It might have been his stick deodorant. We learned at a German checkpoint last year that solid deodorants don’t count as solid. “A book is solid,” an employee kindly explained.

It could have been worse.Our research subsequently revealed people complaining about one-hour delays at Fast Track. 

We sipped a little Champagne and ate a light dinner at the buffet in BA’s first class lounge, before boarding our flight to Rome.

We had fairly short notice of the gate (fairly common in Europe), and had to walk a distance before riding another train to the B gates.







Boarding had already started, and we were fortunate to find space in the overheads for our rollaboards. Finding space for our knees on the A320 was equally challenging.



We were happy to skip dinner and to land on time at FCO. We caught the free (!) airport bus to the Hilton Garden Inn, where we spent a warm and occasionally noisy night in a typically small room. 

Its redeeming feature was was a very comfortable bathtub that allowed Kathy to soak her sore back.

The next morning we splurged on the non-stop Leonardo train to Rome Termini. The €14 tickets don’t guarantee a seat, so we stood for the trip.

There we found our way to the Hilton Doubletree Monti, less than a 10-minute walk, where our room was ready.



It’s a decent place in a good location, even if we wouldn’t go out of our way to book it again. 

We enjoyed our dinner in the  Bono Bottega, or “Bono Experience” just around the corner.








Here’s a closer look at a dish new to us, fried artichokes.



Yesterday we walked over to the site of the Jewish ghetto that existed in Rome from the 1500s to the 1800s. What a ghastly history!



We were reminded that Rome was built on seven hills.



It’s now known for trendy restaurants, several of which, including our choice, Il Giardino, feature artichokes cooked very differently from the ones we steam and serve at home.





The owner sits out front carving up the artichoke, telling us he trims about three hundred a day.







Our iPhones told us we walked about five miles in total on the bumpy and hilly streets of Rome, so we rewarded ourselves with  a return to Bono, where we enjoyed another tasty meal.

Carbonara…



Saltimbocca…



Today we’re en route to Lucca, a charming little walled city we’ve previously visited a number of times.  We’re looking forward to four nights there before flying home from Rome.








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