Thanks to a wake up call from Rowan, I got up on time and out the door by 6:20 yesterday morning. I hopped on the Number 11 bus and went to the Victoria Coach Station to get on the bus to go to the Airport. I got on a bus 30 minutes earlier that I planned, so I was at the airport by 8:15AM for a 10:55 flight. I was the third person to check-in for the flight and then got through security to wait at the inner lounge of Standstet Airport. While I was there, I broke a mug at a souvenier shop and bought a phrase book for Western Europe. When we were released to go to the next lounge, I went and got in line for my Ryan Air flight to Rome-Ciampari. I stood in line for an hour or so and then boarded with the other 180 people headed to Rome. Ryan Air does a cattle call like Southwest and I got to sit on the aisle of the second seated row–pretty nice.
As we fly into Rome, the woman in front of me pointed out the Vatican and the Colosso and other obvious highlights. I could not see anything, aisle seat, but I got off the plane and through passport control very quickly. Ciampara is a regional airport and reminds me of the airport in Farmington, New Mexico. In other words, teeny tiny. There was one ATM, one bus company that took everyone from the plane into central Rome and the Termini station.
Driving through Rome was amazing. Off to the right were portions of the Aquaduct, then you would notice some shanties, then the italian version of Cabrini Green. There was a ton of graffiti and we even passed through a korean or chinese neighborhood. Eventually we parked on the southside of Termini. With my extremely limited Italian, I managed to buy a ticket to Assisi for 6:14PM. At about 6:00, I got on the train and sat in Car #1. Over halfway through the ride I got yelled at buy the conducter. Apparently the #1 meant First Class and not Car #1. I moved to second class and counted stations and managed not to miss the station in Assisi. I got to Assisi around 8:45PM and got a cab to my hotel–San Giacmo.
My cab overcharged me, I think, by 5 Euros and dropped me just short of my hotel. So, I could not see that my hotel was closed up for the night, shuttered and dark. Shit. I then walked around Assisi with my luggage searching for an open Hotel. I found another american couple with the same problem. Eventually we found a hotel with 2 rooms and both checked in. At 10:30 I slid into the starched sheets of my double bed and went to sleep–in Italy.
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