All about airplanes ...
Finally, I’ve found out what time it is (I think) … 2.15 am, Saturday morning. Oh, goody :-)
Below me, down the hill along the Claudian Way, the sounds of early morning traffic are building up ~ what time do these Romans go to work?
It’s actually hard to get my head around this whole “I’m in Rome” thing, as I am still feeling a little 'jet lagged' and tired.
The first leg of the journey here was Qantas to Hong Kong, a nine hour flight I wish could have lasted all the way. The “passenger load” (with thanks to Qantas cabin crew for adding to the great descriptions load) was so light that we were invited to sit wherever we liked ~ well, except first class, what a shame. Younger passengers laid themselves across the central rows of four seats, blankets pulled up tight for a full length sleep, but I noticed I was not the only old fogey remaining upright and using the seats beside me to spread out the carry on luggage :-)
Arrived in Hong Kong at about 11 pm HK time, to find most of the airport shops beginning to shut up for the night. And who can blame them. Sad for anyone wanting a nice cup of coffee, though …
A brief walk around convinced me of two things ~ Hong Kong airport is HUGE and it is also hugely expensive. That nice cup of coffee ~ $10.00 Australian. I mean inner city Sydney is expensive, but $10.00 is really desperation time! Of course, I paid up without demur, drank my coffee and stayed nice and wired for the second leg, Cathay Pacific to Rome.
What a difference. When I walked into the waiting area, I knew things had changed. “That’s why the call it cattle class,” the guy next to me in line said, as we surveyed the hundreds of people waiting to board. Most of them, like me, arriving from elsewhere aboard half filled flights. Not this time, though ~ now it's not a spare seat in the plane. Luckily, I have an aisle seat (THANK YOU, Harvey World Travel!), but my large size male neighbour is not as happy about his accommodation, and spends the night with his arms crossed and his legs akimbo.
Caught between awake and asleep, we cruise across Asia and southern Europe throughout the night, arriving in Rome at about 6.20 am, and pour out of the plane stretching and yawning stickily like thick, lumpy molasses.
After being admonished for taking photographs inside the terminal, but otherwise unmolested, I pass quickly through the customs area and am so very pleased to see Fr Jefferies Foale waiting for me. He has made the journey across Rome at this hour to pick me up, and I am very grateful indeed :-)
The Roman traffic is busy, but it is not yet peak hour, so we travel fairly quickly ~ on the ‘wrong’ side, of course!!! Fr Jeff is a terrific and knowledgeable guide and it’s not long before we round the corner into the Piazza Ss Giovanni e Paolo, where my home for the next few weeks sits quietly behind high ancient walls.
Below me, down the hill along the Claudian Way, the sounds of early morning traffic are building up ~ what time do these Romans go to work?
It’s actually hard to get my head around this whole “I’m in Rome” thing, as I am still feeling a little 'jet lagged' and tired.
The first leg of the journey here was Qantas to Hong Kong, a nine hour flight I wish could have lasted all the way. The “passenger load” (with thanks to Qantas cabin crew for adding to the great descriptions load) was so light that we were invited to sit wherever we liked ~ well, except first class, what a shame. Younger passengers laid themselves across the central rows of four seats, blankets pulled up tight for a full length sleep, but I noticed I was not the only old fogey remaining upright and using the seats beside me to spread out the carry on luggage :-)Arrived in Hong Kong at about 11 pm HK time, to find most of the airport shops beginning to shut up for the night. And who can blame them. Sad for anyone wanting a nice cup of coffee, though …
A brief walk around convinced me of two things ~ Hong Kong airport is HUGE and it is also hugely expensive. That nice cup of coffee ~ $10.00 Australian. I mean inner city Sydney is expensive, but $10.00 is really desperation time! Of course, I paid up without demur, drank my coffee and stayed nice and wired for the second leg, Cathay Pacific to Rome.What a difference. When I walked into the waiting area, I knew things had changed. “That’s why the call it cattle class,” the guy next to me in line said, as we surveyed the hundreds of people waiting to board. Most of them, like me, arriving from elsewhere aboard half filled flights. Not this time, though ~ now it's not a spare seat in the plane. Luckily, I have an aisle seat (THANK YOU, Harvey World Travel!), but my large size male neighbour is not as happy about his accommodation, and spends the night with his arms crossed and his legs akimbo.
Caught between awake and asleep, we cruise across Asia and southern Europe throughout the night, arriving in Rome at about 6.20 am, and pour out of the plane stretching and yawning stickily like thick, lumpy molasses.
After being admonished for taking photographs inside the terminal, but otherwise unmolested, I pass quickly through the customs area and am so very pleased to see Fr Jefferies Foale waiting for me. He has made the journey across Rome at this hour to pick me up, and I am very grateful indeed :-)
The Roman traffic is busy, but it is not yet peak hour, so we travel fairly quickly ~ on the ‘wrong’ side, of course!!! Fr Jeff is a terrific and knowledgeable guide and it’s not long before we round the corner into the Piazza Ss Giovanni e Paolo, where my home for the next few weeks sits quietly behind high ancient walls.
posted by Christine @ 07:06
1 Comments:
At 27/9/06 2:00 pm,
Anonymous said…
Hi Christine, great to hear you have made it and are in the big city and you're staying above the Temple of Cladius!
Thanks for the great description.
Hope you're rested enough to tackle the work.
Take care
Brian
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