Getting to Rome

By Cubie - July 05, 2010

火车,火车,突突突 你要去那里?(loosely translate as train, train, where do you want to go)

It's one of the kiddy game I used to play and I remembered answering Italy or France of the many, many places. At that point of time, I never really thought that one fine day, I would stand in front of the Colosseum in Rome.

We took the long bus ride to Cherleroi Airport in Belgium to board our first flight with Ryanair. The unexpected part of the flight was - upon landed, they will have an announcement to declare that they have once again landed on time, with recording of trumpet blowing.

Anyway, upon reaching Rome Ciampino Airport, we got worried. It was getting late and the B&B specifically requested for a check in time as they do not stay there. I called the number given to inform that we will be late. Unsure if they understand me but they were there waiting when we reached.

Getting to the B&B was a nightmare. To begin with, the google map that I make print screen was a little off. It showed that it was really near the Rome Termini Station but the direction on the booking confirmation told us to take a metro. We decided to be good and followed instruction... wrong move. Termini Station was huge, and the walk from where the bus dropped us to metro was far, especially the Line A that we were after. We were unsure and tried to ask a couple of uniform wearing Romans, but was brushed off with a mocking, "No Engrish" followed by laughs among themselves. Barely a couple of hours in Rome, bad impression. It was a rude shock in comparison, despite we have been warned that Romans are not the most friendly. In fact, none of the people we approached that night were willing to help. It was getting late, and desperation level increased, but Lady Luck smiled upon us. We met two kind souls who got us to the B&B, and no, they are not Italians.

It's not the end of story upon reaching the B&B. The owner of the B&B told us that we might need to move the next day, to another B&B, run by her sister. Reason being that there was some confusion with the booking. What I don't understand was why we had to move when we already checked in while the other party has not yet. Anyhow, negotiation proved futile. We moved to another B&B the next day.

First stop -



Side note: This post is getting a little too long :P

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