On our way

 We awoke the morning of February 28 with some trepidation as the forecast was for rain, wind and snow.  All morning, it would start and stop snowing, but the worst of it held off until about the time we left.  It was a bumpy ride over to Vancouver, but we made it.  We then set in for a rather long wait, about five hours, but were eventually truly on our way about eight o'clock in the evening. 

We flew with Air Transat, our first time with this carrier.  One of our friends (you know who you are)  calls it and all similar carriers "Sardine Air",  because of the way you are packed in the plane.  We chose to upgrade our tickets to make life a little bit more pleasant.  It   gave us an extra inch in seat width (something this "broad" appreciates) and a bit more space between us and the passenger in front of us.  That way when they put their seat back you didn't spend your whole flight with their head in your lap.  We were treated very well with this upgrade, starting with priority check in, a complimentary glass of wine prior to takeoff,  our own blankets and neck pillow, and a little later on a comfort package that included toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion and lip balm; socks, sleeping mask and ear plugs.  About an hour into the flight, we were served hot canapes and another glass of wine.  Next we were given a hot damp cloth to freshen ourselves in preparation for our meal offering.  The Captain then indicated that we should probably pull down our window shades because, as we were flying East, we would soon be encountering the rising sun.  Really??  It was only nine o'clock at night our time.  About 10 o'clock, we were served our meal, how very European as that's the time they have their supper, nothing before eight o'clock in the evening.  Supper was very nice, we had a choice of two hot entrées.  The meals were served on china with real cutlery.  The meal started out with a salad course.  The neatest thing I have ever seen is the way the dressing was served.  It was an olive oil and balsamic dressing.  The packaging made it look like there was an olive encased in plastic, complete with stem.  Once you tore the top off, what was left of the stem became the pouring spout and you squeezed the "olive" to get the dressing out.  This course was followed by a cheese course, the main meal and dessert.  Wine was served with the meal. Are you counting??  We are up to three glasses of wine in about 2 1/2 hours.  After the meal we were offered a post meal liqueur, which we declined.  It was now time to settle into sleep for the night.  Sleep never comes easy on these flights.  Later in the morning, about two hours before arrival in London, we were served a continental breakfast - yogurt, fresh fruit and hot cinnamon buns.

London Gatwick airport was fairly easy to get through, we collected our baggage and headed over to our hotel.  Time for a good nap, then we were off to supper and after supper we went back to our room and settled in sleep for the night.  Next morning we were off to the airport again to take our next flight out to Rome.  We were there in plenty of time, waiting to find out our departure gate. We went through security, my baggage getting a thorough going over as the X-ray showed something like a metal toothpick.  Every item was removed from the bag patted down, until I realized that what we were looking for was a tweezers that was in with my medications.  They were really nice about it all.  We were through security before I saw a sign indicating gates were closed well in advance of departure and we had meer minutes to make our gate and had no idea where it was.  Then we saw a sign saying the nearest gates were ten minutes away.  There was no way we were going to make it on time!! But we did, being the last ones through.

We left the gate on time but had to come back because some light was malfunctioning on the plane.  It  was only supposed to be a two-minute servicing by we ended up on the ground an hour before we left again, so we were late getting into Rome airport.  Now, to get a bus, train or taxi into town.  The bus wasn't going to go for at least another hour,  the taxi wanted to gouge us, he offered to take us into Rome for €60 when the set fare is  €40.  When I challenged him with this, he had some story that we just walked away from.  We took the train and were in Rome a half hour later.  A taxi to our apartment should only be €7 .  The taxi diver was indicating €20 -25.  I said no, no, no, and reminded him that it was only 3 km.  We started negotiating and agreed on €15.  We quickly got in the car and were off to the apartment. 

When we got to the apartment Vincenzo, the landlord said that the buses, trains and taxis had been on strike for six hours earlier today.  I guess they were just making up for lost business.  We quickly got everything settled, paperwork completed, stay paid, and now, we're officially in Rome.  We got our bags all unpacked, went out for a brief bite to eat, came back and settled in for a good night sleep.  Today, Friday, we went and did a little bit of shopping for groceries, and of course, wine.  Tomorrow being Saturday, I hope to go to the farmers market for fresh vegetables and all that kind of stuff.

We took our first walk today, about 3 km, the legs are sore.  It is warm here today, 20°C already at 12:30 and after coming from 5 to 7°.  It's interesting to see that people are walking around with parkas and toques, looking like they're in the middle of winter.

Jet lag is catching up with us, so it will be another early night,