On Getting There and BEING There
It’s that time! After almost a year of planning I embarked on my inaugural trip as Red Shoe Worldview! My red shoes took me on a spectacular adventure in Europe, which began in Rome.
Italy has long held the #1 spot on my “I Wanna Go There” list. My mother’s family is Italian, and I am fascinated with the culture, language and most of all, the food. Our decision to go on this trip brought me so much joy . . . and also anxiety. When you have always imagined how amazing a place must be and have spent YEARS building it up in your mind, you could be in for a great, big letdown. Would it be the paradise I expected it to be? Could it possibly live up to the hype?? I spent the weeks before the trip reminding myself to temper my expectations and be ready for a heavy dose of reality. I just really didn’t want to be devastated when reality set in.
Well, let me tell you, Italy was everything I hoped it would be! It was definitely worth the actual journey to get there from Denver.
We were lucky and were able to fly direct from Denver to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Rome. Having 2 instead of 3 flights was really great. I have flown to Europe before and had to do several layovers. Our flights were better from that standpoint. There were only a couple of things I would change in hindsight. I would have brought more of my own snacks on the plane and I would have booked an earlier flight from Frankfurt to Rome.
We flew Economy on United, which I have had good International experiences with. From what I remember, on previous flights we were served dinner and then breakfast. Not so this time. They served us dinner an hour after takeoff. They did beverage service and even coffee after dinner, but there was nothing else until about an hour before we landed, when they handed out yogurt and biscotti. By the time the yogurt arrived, I was famished. I couldn’t eat the biscotti (food allergy) and the yogurt didn’t even take the edge off my hunger. I can’t sleep on airplanes, so I was running on fumes in more ways than one. My first couple of hours in Frankfurt would have been a lot easier if I had packed some good protein snacks in my travel bag, especially since Frankfurt turned out to be a lot more frustrating than it was the first time I flew through it.
The last time I flew through Frankfurt, I was coming from London and going to Spain. I remember the customs entry for the EU to be very easy and quick. This time, it was the opposite. Our plane didn’t disembark at a gate, we actually parked on the tarmac and then had to wait close to 20 minutes for the stairs to be brought to the plane. We had to then ride in shuttles to the main terminal. We were tired, hot and hungry. All I wanted was a real breakfast. The shuttle dropped us off on the lower level of the terminal. We walked in and started to move towards the stairs to customs. That’s when everything hit a standstill.
There was a single airport employee standing on the stairs, refusing to let anyone go past her. She gave us no information on what was happening or why. She would only let those who were exiting the airport or flying out on flights from certain gates go past her. We were not on her list, so we had to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. It took almost an hour before she finally relented and let everyone go up the stairs. My best guess is that she was trying to meter the line to customs. Needless to say, after an hour packed into a hot room with 200 of my closest passengers and no info on when we would be able to move, I was wishing that I had snacks.
We finally made it into the terminal after customs and found some food. Then we settled in for the LONG wait for our second flight . . . 8 hours to be exact. After flying 10 hours and not sleeping, having a long layover was rough. My husband can stretch out on a hard concrete floor and take a nap. I, on the other hand, need the perfect number of perfectly fluffy yet firm pillows to cocoon myself into and EVEN THEN I typically need melatonin to fall asleep easily. He napped. I didn’t. With 6 of us (of varying ages) traveling together and the frequency of flights between Frankfurt and Rome, I will definitely opt for shorter layovers next time.
Finally, at 4:30 pm it was time to board our final flight. We arrived in Rome after the delightfully short flight and were able to easily navigate our way to the Leonardo Express train, which stations near the airport and will take you straight to Roma Termini train station, the main railway station in Rome. Other than the fact that we accidentally bought a child ticket for our 17 year old (who actually needs an adult ticket), we were easily able to board the train, get cozy and enjoy our trip to the center of Rome.
After a 30 minute train ride, we breezed off the train, put the address for Hotel Taormina (our home away from home in Rome) into Google Maps and started walking. It was dark by this point, but the streets were lively. Between travelers moving in and out of the train station, cars & Vespas racing around and passersby shouting, it was like a city party scene. While the trip was bumpy with all our suitcases, we agreed it was nice to be out in the fresh air after being in airports for so long.
We located our hotel, got checked in, dragged our suitcases up 2 flights of stairs (old buildings just don’t have elevators) and crashed. We had been traveling for almost 24 hours and were exhausted. Since we had an early tour planned at The Vatican the next day, we didn’t even bother to go find dinner!
My husband and I had a room with a balcony that overlooked the street. After I took a shower, I stepped out onto the balcony and just breathed in the air. The city party was still going on down below, but up here, there was a breeze and a wonderful sense of calm. Ahhh. As I stood there, I thought about everything it had taken to get to that moment . . . the plans, the worries, the saving, the actual hours in transit with hungry, tired kiddos in tow. It wasn’t easy. It rarely is. In that moment though, I felt peace in my heart and a knowing in my gut that it was worth it. I was THERE. Even though I was just on a hotel balcony, I could look up at the Italian sky and revel in just BEING there. Sometimes were get so caught up in getting somewhere that we miss actually being there. So I embraced the stillness and the magic of being in this place I have always dreamed of. It was perfect. Then I crawled into my pillow cocoon and slept. It was a wonderful sleep.
Ciao from Roma!
B
