TR: To Italy and Back, Pt. I

Hi Folks, I thought I'd post my TR as much for my own benefit
as others. If anyone has any comments or questions, I'll be glad
to respond in due course. This occurred over the course of May
28th - June 7th...

Saturday - Outbound layover in NYC. Rented a car from Avis.
Stayed in Hilton near JFK. Pleasant and reasonable, but trouble
finding... circled around, called the hotel... only 2 blocks away.

Sunday -- Drove to Ground Zero (we'd been in the WTC only
one week B4 9/11). Drove to see aunt in Larchmont, Westchester
County, and drove back to JFK for flight out on Delta.

Monday -- Landed in Madrid. Passed Immigration. Luggage was
checked thru to Rome, so no baggage claim, but had to exit thru
Customs to switch from Delta to Alitalia. We had trouble finding
Alitalia for check in. We searched a good bit before finding their
counter.

Arrived in Rome in the PM. It took one hour for baggage claim!
Board the train from the airport to Temini station was no problem.
We dragged our suitcases 4 blks. to the hotel (Mercenati Palace).
We had booked a run-of-the-house, half-price deal, so got what
must have the smallest room, but it was well-appointed. At least
they had chocolate croissants for breakfast!

We had prepaid a tour of Nero's Golden House, but had no time
to get there. We called friends who were teaching in a Summer
University program and met them for dinner at Campo d'Fiori.
After dinner, we walked to Piazza Navona, Pantheon and Trevi
Fountain. This evening stroll was great.

Tuesday -- Taxi to the Vatican. Toured the Museum+St.Peter's.
Taxi to Spanish Steps for Lunch. Then did a bus tour to Tivoli.
After the tour, we again met our friends for a group-dinner in
a pedestrian-only area of Trestaverde (sp?).

Wednesday -- Too tired to walk thru the Forum, we settled for
a prepaid tour of the Coliseum, and then taxied back to hotel
to get our bags and took a train to Florence. In Florence, after
some trouble finding the rental agency while dragging our bags
thru the streets, we rented a car and headed into Tuscany.

I should have studied the map more, but that'll be in Part II.
We obviously needed more time in Rome, which will require
another trip. End of Part I. More to follow. = Roger =

On 2005-06-08, Rog' wrote:

Monday -- Landed in Madrid. Passed Immigration. Luggage was
checked thru to Rome, so no baggage claim, but had to exit thru
Customs to switch from Delta to Alitalia. We had trouble finding
Alitalia for check in. We searched a good bit before finding their
counter.

Why did you have to check in again?

"Jesper Lauridsen" wrote:
Rog' wrote:
Monday -- Landed in Madrid. Passed Immigration. Luggage was
checked thru to Rome, so no baggage claim, but had to exit thru
Customs to switch from Delta to Alitalia. We had trouble finding
Alitalia for check in. We searched a good bit before finding their
counter.
Why did you have to check in again?
----------------------
To get to the Alitalia gate, we needed to go out thru customs and
back thru terminal security. Thus, we needed boarding passes from
Alitalia. When we left JFK, Delta would not issue them (since it was
"the next day"). Apparently, our bags could be checked thru, but
not us. It took us about an hour to do this, but as we had 4 hours,
it was mostly just a hassle.

This problem paled in comparison to what happened to us at the
Newark airport on our return. But that's for Part II of my TR. =R=