Day 44 Leaving Cairo - Rome
Friday January 18th
Up early this morning as we leave for the airport at 8am. We said goodbye to Hany and Kathy and Gen – it was very sad. Aria and I spoke about returning to Egypt someday, after learning Arabic.
Taken To the airport and we were escorted through check-in – very nice service.
Again sad to be leaving Egypt but looking forward to Rome.
We ate breakfast and our flight left on-time. It was 3.5 hours with a one hour time change backwards. Painless!
Into Italy – customs and passport a breeze.
Pam got us a room in northern Rome within walking distance of a park called Borghese – not sure if this is a good location or not but it was recommended by the tourist information lady. We took a cab for 40 euro. About a 30km drive and cheaper than all of us on a train. The room was nothing too great, a queen and 2 singles – one room with tiny bath for 130 euro's. Seems expensive but the first room is always the hardest as you do not know the layout of the city yet. It turns out that even though this is the low season we got a great room at a good rate. The Hotel Priscilla included breakfast.
After checking in we decide to explore by foot and head towards the Piazza de Spagna home of the famous Spanish steps. It is a very short walk and we spend some time people watching. It is decidedly colder than any other destination to date. Also, the obelisk is covered as it is undergoing some renovation. We walk a restaurant from the guide book. Even though it is 7pm and we are starving it is still about an hour early for dinner. They do not even start serving pizza until 7:30pm.
The meal – words cannot describe – it was simply fantastic. One of the pasta dishes had no sauce just an egg flavored pasts it was superb. The food was more expensive than I expected but the wine was fantastic and less expensive by far than a typical bottle in America.
We were tired so we walked back to the hotel and retired for the evening.
Still not sure what to make of Rome – there certainly were lots of people out walking and sitting in the Piazza in the evening.
No plans for the next day and still no internet access.
The beds were comfortable, the room was a little noisy as it faced the street but we slept well.