Trip to Italy, June-July 2004
In June and July 2004, I made a trip to Italy. My mother and I stayed in the house we own in Umbertide, in Umbria. Bill Thayer of Slowtrav fame had previously stayed in the house. We got some relaxation done in the house, but the stay was marked by the plumbing pipes needing replacing after 25-30 years (the time of the restoration of the 15th-century house). We got a team headed by the plumber who did the original installation; it meant tearing up the brick floor of the one ground floor room of this vertical house, the kitchen-dining-living room. It was a mess to go through that room, but luckily, we had a spare house (odd to say for a place where we go only for a few weeks at a time) connected to the main house at the top, with its own entrance and small kitchen-living room. The work got done just as we completed our stay, with new pipes that should keep the house in good shape for some time to come.
Beyond this and other upkeep of the house, it was a time of relaxation, getting by as the weather got hot, and some catching up with old friends, seeing changes including deaths and births in people’s families. Peace flags were in evidence. We’ve had Moroccan neighbors for a while; one change I saw was that Arab women were more in evidence, especially at the weekly outdoor market. We ate at familiar restaurants and one new one at the end of our street. During my last trip, this space was being prepared as a cybercafe, which evidently didn’t succeed. Now it was just being opened as the Orchestra restaurant, with an accent on the O, to be pronounced the English way. It was something of a nouvelle cuisine place and wine bar, which didn’t claim another nationality but wasn’t a typical Italian restaurant. The one pasta dish was ravioli served on a corn meal base. I preceded that with a selection of cheeses and fruit preserves.
During our stay in Umbria, our one sightseeing trip was to Perugia where we saw the show of the artist Perugino. The show had locations all over Umbria; we saw the main part of it at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria; it was very impressive, and I tried to take note of the landscapes and towns in the background of the religious paintings. The show also included drawings and documents about Perugia in the painter’s lifetime. We went to the San Pietro monastery for a show of miniature books from Perugino’s time, also very interesting.
On my own, I went to an important Umbrian site where I hadn’t been in the 33 years since I first lived in Umbria: the Ipogeo dei Volumni, an Etruscan necropolis outside Perugia. Driving there from Ponte S. Giovanni, I didn’t see it and overshot it (it‘s just after the railroad crossing). When I turned around and saw it, there was no evident parking place and I didn’t want to slow down with a car on my tail. It took another turn around (or more?) to park next to an apartment building off the road. This Monday morning, I was the only visitor. I’ll refer to Bill Thayer’s description of the fascinating place. I went to the underground tomb on my own without needing to be led with a group. Then going outside to see other tombs carved into the hill, it was noteworthy to see the elevated superstrada highway going right over us, then go up to the tomb entrance and look down on the highway. This loud modernity was a contrast with the ancient tombs and small museum building. This may conclude my report about my time in Umbria; now I’ll say something about my three stays in Rome.
Rome stay 1: I’ll emphasize the practical, and discuss my transatlantic flights at the end. On my arrival at Fiumicino airport, I took the underground passageway to the train station and used a 5-euro note left over from my previous trip to buy a ticket on the FM1 train from the machine. I stamped the ticket and made it onto the 9.27 train just before it left, rather than waiting another 15 minutes. My destination was Trastevere; I wasn’t quite sure what the previous stop was but it was clear that I was there when the first group of people with luggage got ready to get off. My plan there was to take tram number 8; in front of the station I looked both for the stop and a place to buy a ticket; I believe I’d heard that vending machines were becoming commonplace. In the piazza in front of the station there were end-of-line stops for several tram and bus lines, but not the 8. Not seeing a ticket vending machine, I asked at the bar, where they said they didn’t have tickets and sent me to the newsstand across the piazza. I got the ticket there and saw that tram 8 stopped in front of the newsstand, coming down the big street on the left. I boarded the tram and tried to stamp the ticket in one machine, but the slot was too small; it was the old model. Then I saw the new machine; it took a few attempts to get the ticket in the right way, not the way one would guess based on the arrow on the ticket. The ticket disappeared into the machine for a few seconds and came out stamped. I had noticed that the tram said number 8 but also said it was limited to Porta Maggiore, which didn’t make sense as I understood the route. Some passengers asked others which line it was and found it confusing; the driver was in an enclosed booth and couldn’t be asked. Then it turned off viale Trastevere, making clear that this was line 3, not 8, so all the passengers got off, as I needed to do with my luggage. It was good that I know Rome geography and Italian; it was also good that the tickets were good for 75 minutes of unlimited travel. I got on the correct tram and took it to the end of the line at Largo Argentina.
I walked the short way to the convent where my mother had booked lodging, the Istituto S. Giuliana Falconieri at via S. Giuseppe Calasanzio 1 just off Corso Rinascimento. I greeted my mother, who had gotten there earlier. The place was fine at 45 euros for singles with shared bath. After I had a chance to settle in, we walked around, taking advantage of being in this picturesque historic area, starting with nearby Piazza Navona. I had picked for lunch Ada e Alberto, via dei Banchi Nuovi 14, based on this list of trattorie from the London Telegraph. It was a simple place with the appeal described in the piece, in particular their simply serving us what they had (good pasta with red sauce) and saving me from choosing after a transatlantic flight (although I was pretty well rested after the trip in Business Class). Ada, the owner, recognized my mother from having been there several years earlier. We had some more strolling and shopping in the afternoon, before I found my way to a bar to see Italy’s soccer game. We had dinner at a familiar place, La Carbonara, on Campo de’ Fiori, a longtime favorite of ours. It was good to have their signature penne carbonara.
The next morning, we followed the convent’s checkout time of 10 a.m. and took a taxi to the Villa Borghese parking lot to pick up the rental car we’d booked through Auto Europe at the Europcar office. With the free upgrade from the Economy category, we got an Alfa 147 diesel, a small 4-door hatchback. I had some worries about driving in Rome; I had thought about driving out on via Flaminia, a route more familiar to me, but with Slowtrav and the rental office recommendations, the via Salaria route was manageable. I somehow managed to guess the correct lanes and made my way out of town onto the autostrada. When I was on the highway, I appreciated the performance of the Alfa, seeing how diesel cars have been refined (no pun intended). It didn’t have the noise I associated with diesels, and it went well at autostrada speeds without straining. We didn’t use the car that much, just using one tank of fuel (at the lower price than gasoline) in the three-week trip. From the Michelin guide online I had chosen the restaurant of the Hotel Altieri in Fratta Todina to stop for lunch. It was a modern hotel outside of town, which might get most of its restaurant business from wedding banquets and the like, but it was good to have tortellini with truffle sauce before completing the drive to Umbertide.
Rome stay 2: my mother planned a trip to Switzerland to visit her friend there, as she generally does on her European trips. I had thought of flying someplace on a low-cost airline, but I decided that I would go to Rome for a night during this time. For some time, if I went to Rome at all during my Italian trips it was just for the night before my return flight; now I was due to spend more time there. Since driving into central Rome wasn’t to be considered, there were several options for using public transportation from Umbertide to Rome. I try to keep up to date on Italian trains but I’d never taken a Eurostar, so I decided to take that and take advantage of Trenitalia’s online reservations. At our Internet access point (the computer store on via Garibaldi in Umbertide) I made my bookings for direct Eurostars between Perugia Ponte S. Giovanni (PSG) station and Rome. I got both an e-mail confirmation and a text message on the cell phone. My outbound train was at 6.54 a.m.; my drive from Umbertide to PSG was quick and I was pleased to see that I could park for free in a covered lot and have the car in the shade. The train arrived and I found my seat in car 1, which I understand was a first class car that had been designated as second class for this trip. It was a comfortable open car with seats all facing the same way, like an airplane. As expected, I showed my confirmation printout and the conductor printed a ticket for me.
I had used Venere to book a stay at the Hotel Assisi, via dei Mille 29. It had an easy name to remember, and was near Stazione Termini, not a charming neighborhood, but for a one-night trip it was convenient to be near the station, and it was on the north side, the better side in terms of safety. The train arrived before 9 a.m. and I made my way to the hotel. There was a doorway marked with the hotels Urbe and Assisi on different floors, with a doorbell under the Assisi sign. I buzzed and got no answer; I was stuck at a locked gate until people went out. I went in; before taking the elevator in front of me I looked to the side and saw the Assisi lobby there on the ground floor with its own entrance one door down from where I’d waited. I had the good luck I’ve usually had in Rome of having a room ready when I checked in around 9 a.m. I went to the fourth floor of this building, which appeared to have regular apartments and a special door for a group of hotel rooms. The key didn’t work in this door; I pushed a discreet button in a decorative lion’s mouth, and it took a few attempts at this before the door popped open, apparently finally getting the busy (?) desk clerk’s attention. I settled in the adequate 2-star hotel room with carved out bathroom space. When I got back that night, they warned me that the hotel would not take credit cards, something of a surprise since I booked through Venere with a credit card guarantee and didn’t see any statement of that.
I went nearby to the antiquities museum at the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme; I’d gone when it first opened in that space in 1998, and it was still necessary to be led with a group to see the most interesting part, the Roman paintings and mosaics. Then (perhaps I should have reversed the time, given the quickly rising temperature), I went to the Palatine hill, this major sight of Rome that I had never visited after living in Italy for most of the 1970s including two years in Rome. I had attempted to go a few times, including with guests, and found it closed. So now I entered with the crowd and found great fascination on the large plateau with the remains of important historical structures and view of Rome. In the afternoon I went to the Vittoriano (the wedding cake or typewriter monument in the center of Rome) and saw the show of photographs from British archives of the liberation of Rome in 1944. Then there was a wait for a bus (I’d bought a daily transit pass) for a short ride uphill to see another photography show at the Scuderie del Quirinale: photographs of the same theme in Italy taken by an Italian and non-Italian photographer. The pictures spanned many decades; they weren’t taken for the show.
I sat at the Trevi Fountain as I prepared to follow some recommendations from the City Secrets: Rome guide. At dinnertime, I went to the Ristorante Abruzzi ai SS. Apostoli, listed in the book as having the best pasta carbonara in Rome; I had it and wasn’t sure that it stood out, but it was a pleasant outdoor dinner with the Frascati wine bringing back memories of my years in Rome when I first lived on my own. I followed this up with another recommendation from the book: the Gelateria S. Crispino on via della Panetteria, a side street away from the fountain piazza, which has its own well-known gelaterie.
The next morning, I did my (previously reserved online) visit to the Galleria Borghese, where I hadn’t been in ages, and saw its remodeled space and collection of late Renaissance and Baroque art. When I was done, it was early to return to the station for my 1.45 train but I didn’t want to try to visit anything else, so I sat and walked around the park. I wound up at the head of via Veneto, uncertain of whether to walk to the station area or take the bus. I walked, turning off onto via Bissolati, knowing that it was a straight walk to the station. Then somehow I found that I had turned off onto via XX Settembre; I thought it only went south from where I was and I turned based on that, but in fact I’d been going north and was turned around. It was all puzzling when I pride myself on knowing my way around Rome well, although this wasn’t that familiar an area to me. The nice thing about going to Termini is that just about any bus stop will have a line going there; when I found a stop, it just had lines going away from Termini, it was a one-way street, and I didn’t know which way to turn to find the buses going the other way. I finally found a bus, had a fast lunch, and retrieved my bag from the hotel.
During the previous day, protesters (about a garbage dump) had blocked the railroad tracks south of Naples, and all trains on that route were cancelled. Termini had the normal crowded scene; apparently it was a worse scene with stranded passengers who were stopped in the peripheral Rome stations. Trains on the line to Florence and Milan were delayed by an hour. My train to Perugia left from track 1, the closest to the hotel; perhaps because I was the first to reserve, I had a seat at the point where the front- and rear-facing seats meet and there was a table; all I had to put there was a chilled bottle of water I’d bought from a machine for 0.80 euros. The conductor didn’t really look at my reservation printout; he apparently printed out my ticket based on my seat number. We got to Ponte S. Giovanni 10 minutes late and I got the car in the shade.
Rome stay 3: At the end of our stay in Umbertide, we left to spend the night in Rome before our return flights. When we were somewhat ready to leave the house, we left late Sunday morning, July 4. We had reserved for lunch at the Ristorante Umbria in Todi, a long-time favorite. We got there and passed up carbonara this time for spaghetti all’amatriciana, all very good on the terrace with the great view. Afterwards, with some trepidation it was time to drive into Rome. Our destination was the Cavalieri Hilton, not in the central city, making driving less terrifying, but in area unfamiliar to me. I had memorized the directions pretty well and had my mother hold the maps I’d printed from Mappy of the crucial places to turn. I found the hotel and was directed to the self-parking area (4 euros).
I had built up Hilton Hhonors points mostly from credit card use and had planned to use them at the Rome airport Hilton, the one hotel at the airport. Online award booking became available earlier this year; I checked almost daily for months and couldn’t get an award room at the airport, so I thought I might as well use this award at the Cavalieri, a landmark of Rome where I’d never been. With my Gold status (thanks to a special promotion; I’m not one to stay at Hiltons often) we got a room with a breathtaking view of Rome. Although a free bus to the city center is available, this stay in Rome was just at the Hilton, taking it in and watching sports events on TV: the Wimbledon and European soccer finals. The hotel was grand, with a few minor problems. We needed to watch for incidental charges directed to those for whom price is no object. Our lunch in Todi was the true farewell meal to Italy; we planned a light dinner. I had conflicting information as to whether we could get to the Executive Lounge with a buffet for a fee, and the answer was finally negative, so we went to their outdoor Bar dello Chalet, which one needed to access by going through the poolside restaurant. Here I had a 22-euro pizza with cherry tomatoes and herbs on the (tasty) crust, no tomato paste or cheese, along with two 10-euro small glasses of beer. When the game was over and I prepared to retire in anticipation of getting up at 4 a.m., I looked at the room charges on the TV screen and found a mysterious extra charge of 484 euros. I was already in circumstances (worrying about getting up early) that weren’t good for sleeping well, and wondering if I could get this charge resolved at 4 a.m. was an extra problem; I still got some sleep.
I got up at 4 and there was a pleasant young woman working the desk, who removed this room service charge that was not ours. Since we wouldn’t be able to get the Gold benefit of a free breakfast in the dining room, they had breakfast in a bag for us. They needed to unlock the front door for us and we were on our way. We were up at this hour to make my mother’s flight at 7; since my flight wasn’t until 11.20 she had looked into having a car service take her, but I’m glad that I prevailed to take her; it was very nice to drive on the busy thoroughfares of Rome with no traffic. I’d studied the route, and my main worry was whether I’d recognize when the flow of traffic goes left on via Aurelia. When I got there, I didn’t see any signage for it until I saw the street sign when it was too late to turn, so I had to turn around. We stopped for fuel on the Raccordo Anulare, paying cash since the attendant said their credit card takers were out of order. We got to the airport and I let my mother off, ending this good time together. I decided that during this extra time I’d go to the town of Fiumicino. I found my way to the port area, seeing fishermen out; I found a bench and had some of the variety of things in the breakfast bag. I walked a little, down modern streets with shops that were a long way from opening. I felt I’d done all I could there, and made my way back to the airport; although I approached the complex from a different direction, the Slowtrav directions were useful for finding my way to the Europcar rental return, as the office was just opening at 7.
Transatlantic flights
My planning blog shows how I reserved an award ticket on Northwest Airlines’ World Business Class (WBC). I made use of a diary my father gave me; I didn’t use it as much as I should have in restaurants, but I recorded details of my flights of the type that are of interest to some, so here goes:
Sunday, June 13: NW 1690, Kansas City-Detroit scheduled for 9.50 a.m., at check-in posted as delayed to 10. On the plane, it was explained that the crew got in so late the previous (stormy) night that this delay had to be posted so they could get their minimum rest. I had hoped that going First Class and doing international check-in would get me human attention, but I was directed to check myself in by machine, including entering my passport information slowly on a touch-screen keypad. I did get a privileged luggage tag. I boarded with First Class; the flight attendant had to compete with general boarding to do the pre-departure drink service. The door in fact closed at 9.50; takeoff was at 10.05. Landing was scheduled for 12.44; it touched down at 12.40 and was at the gate at 12.45. I was entitled to go to the NW WorldClub for this nearly 5-hour Detroit layover. They announced boarding for the international flights; I wasn’t sure if it was my flight or another that was announced an hour before departure, so I made my way to the gate.
NW 66: they were just announcing WBC boarding as I got there, and a big People-to-People youth group in uniform t-shirts and caps was boarding at the same time. When we got to the end of the jetway, a flight attendant said that boarding would be delayed due to a “situation.” We finally boarded and I got to my new-design WBC seat on this A330 plane, which may have been in its first month of service. I had champagne; the scheduled departure was 5.30; door closed 5.20, takeoff at 6. The seat had many controls; every part of it had a motor that could set it to recline and let the foot rest adjust to one’s height. The screen with the map and speed and altitude information was in English, French, and German, but not Italian. The meal service started with a salad with slices of parmigiano; then I had a beef tenderloin topped with melted cheeses, accompanied by a merlot. I got the seat to its near-flat position and had a good amount of sleep. Towards the end, there was a continental breakfast: croissant, fruit, yogurt. Arrival was scheduled for 8.20; the plane landed at 8.45 and was promptly at the gate. There was less of a crowd at passport control than there’s sometimes been. I claimed my bag and just made the next train into Rome.
Return, Monday, July 5: at 7, I made my way over the bridges from the rental return to the terminal for my flight NW 65 at 11.20. I thought that check-in might not open until 8, since I found that that’s when American, which has a flight at the same time, opens. Knowing that there’s a police check to get into the check-in area for U.S. carriers and that there are next to no seats in the check-in area, I went to the upper area where there were seats. I went to the NW counter at 8; they had the preliminary booths with security questions, then there was already a passenger at WBC check-in, so I went to regular check-in, possibly staffed by Alitalia agents with green jackets. I got checked-in (with boarding passes on KLM stock) and asked about lounge access: my agent asked the WBC agent and they directed me to the Giotto lounge. Then I may have discovered something I did wrong two years ago: continuing to move forward to the far end of the terminal (the left end from the perspective of someone entering the terminal), there was a security entrance for U.S.-bound flights. Two years ago I went by earlier memories of there being several security entrances between the check-in counters, which are perpendicular to the terminal entrance. At that time, after check-in had been frustratingly slow, I turned around and found several passageways without entrances until I got to a very crowded one for all C terminal flights. I suppose that I could have gone forward to the entrance for U.S.-bound flights. At that time I was surprised to see that people who were behind me at check-in made it onto the flight.
This time I got through security and passport control promptly and took the train to the remote concourse; the Giotto lounge was across from my gate. It was comfortable there, although they were out of the better newspapers. Also I’d previously used that lounge in another location and they had a barista; now I had to get a cappuccino from a machine, and it wasn’t right. An hour before departure, I made my way to the gate and boarding began. The door closed at 11.07, and I had an empty seat next to me (in the central pair of seats) when my seatmate could move to be with her companion. Takeoff was at 11.33. The purser greeted passengers by name and noted who was an elite-level flyer and thanked them for their business. There was no such greeting for me; I manage to get the bonus miles but don’t fly at any major level. She said that the menu we’d been given was wrong; the pasta, instead of penne alla siciliana, was tortellini alla panna. I ordered that (also with mushrooms); it wasn’t great with its microwaved taste. They were out of English-language customs forms, so I filled out my U.S. form in Italian. I reclined the seat and got some sleep. The end-of-flight snack was a pizza; I had some hope, but it wasn’t too good. A chocolate mousse made up for it. The board and announcements said we’d be arriving early; when the screen said we were 9 minutes from landing, the captain announced 25 minutes. Scheduled arrival was 3.30; it landed at 2.52 and was at the gate at 2.57. I was pleased to see that Detroit’s new terminal had a big international arrivals hall, so there weren’t big lines. I waited through baggage claim and didn’t see my bag until I saw it had been taken off.
When I booked this trip, they offered me 1.5 hours to make this connection. I’ve had enough experience of late international arrivals and slow going through customs that I asked to be put onto the next flight and have a 3.5-hour connection. Then the schedules were changed so the Detroit-Kansas City flights were 2 and 4 hours after the Rome flight’s arrival. As the trip approached, I had a change of heart and thought I might as well be put on the earlier flight after such a long day. I called and they said they couldn’t do that, but the situation might change. I got advice from Flyertalk to ask to be waitlisted on the earlier flight. On my outbound flight, I thought I would go to the Detroit lounge and talk face-to-face to an agent who deals with their best customers. When I did this, the agent cut me short and said I would need to phone to change a future reservation, even on an award trip. So I phoned from the WorldClub; they said I could be waitlisted but if I got confirmed on the earlier flight there would be a $50 change fee. I declined this for this 2-hour change, which would normally be a standby situation. On my early arrival from Rome, I expected to find a NW counter to recheck my bag, so I could ask an agent about getting on the earlier flight and whether I could carry on my bag if I were on standby. There were no NW agents in sight, just TSA agents to take my bag. I went to the WorldClub and the agent there gave me a passenger verification card to standby for the earlier flight. I went to the gate for that flight, but there was no room for me as it left on time at 5.30.
So I was left on my original flight, NW 1687, scheduled for 7.33 p.m. It was already showing as delayed to 8.12, then 8.35, then 8.45. I was back in the WorldClub, where there was a board with these times, and I was uneasy about being away from the gate past the scheduled time, since they didn’t announce domestic boarding in the club. I went to the gate and recognized the benefits of the club, since it was hard to find a seat at the gate. As I understand, this delay was because the incoming plane was a flight from Washington Dulles that was originally scheduled to arrive around 10.50 a.m.! We boarded, the door closed at 8.49, takeoff was at 9.10. Landing in Kansas City, scheduled for 8.27, happened at 9.40 p.m. Central time. It was a full day to end a full trip.
This was a trip with relaxation and accomplishment. I’m on record as wanting to explore more of Italy, and I didn’t do much of that on this trip. I’m thinking of an ambitious trip to northern Italy next winter, where I can cover new ground.