Arrivederchi Mexico - Welcome To Italy

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Our flight left on schedule at 4:15 Monday afternoon.  No issues leaving the house or getting to the airport.  The cost of taxis is always an issue for us because we live so far out from the airport.  Juan had found a "great driver" when he returned to Phoenix from his brother's funeral.  He said he had a nice car and charged cheap.  Okay, we took the bus into the edge of town to Walmart.   As we were waiting for his arrival, an old white Nissan Altima pulled up with a rusted and dented hood.  It looked like the car had not been washed in months and no A/C.  That was 350 pesos versus the 1000 peso option 😅😅

The aircraft was a Dreamliner and I was very excited.  We didn't buy our seats again and we paid the price.  We were in the mid-section with the three seats.  I had a middle seat and Juan had the middle-seat in front of me.   A very nice woman came and sat next to me.  All of a sudden she pulled out a bag and began to inflate it with a small battery-operated pump.  It made tremendous noise and the inflatable object grew and grew until it was the size of an ottoman.  She placed that between her seat and the seat in front of hers.   It took up part of my leg space and she had no bones about using the shared arm rest.  Everytime she moved during the flight, the ottoman would bump into me.  It was a good strategy.  She knew with her device it would be very hard for me to ask her to let me out to walk around and use the restroom.  Two babies were surrounding me as well, two screamed for the 12 hour flight.  I know it can't be avoided but a bit of cough syrup would have worked just fine.

Aeromexico does serve up some great meals though.  The first order of business of course was the cocktail rounds.  Juan ordered a vodka, a beer, and a white wine for dinner and I followed suit.  We even went back for another cocktail after dinner.  I watched three good movies; Conclave, Duo Date, and the third I can't remember right now.  The last two were comedies and I laughed my ass off.  I'm not a comedy movie fan but Duo Date really got me laughing.  

We arrived to Rome around 3:15 p.m.   Immigration was faster than five minutes from getting off the plane into the terminal.   After, we picked up our bags which we didn't want to check but Aeromexico said that Juan's bad didn't fit in the example box they have.  We checked them both no charge and in the end it worked out well.  We think Juan's bag was tampered with but nothing missing.

Got on the train from the airport to downtown Rome.  Good memories from Spain.  We transferred to the subway just in the middle of rush hour.  That was so much fun and I wish I had filmed it.  It makes Mexico City rush hour look like mid-morning!  No problems though and everyone is very nice.  You wouldn't know that up front.  When they want to go home they won't let anyone stop them.  I'll try to get a shot of the confusion.

We found the Airbnb with little trouble but did do quite a bit of walking.  We couldn't find the station the Airbnb owner recommended so we did an additional 30 minutes as it got dark.  There are a lot of American students walking around.  I wish I had been an international student.  My niece recently spent a few months in Madrid on a language scholarship.

The Airbnb is exactly what was promised and there really is almost nothing to complain about.  We like wifi-connected smart tv as we don't watch cable or programming but prefer Netflix for movies and Youtube for everything else including live news from Mexico and abroad.   Extra pillows would have been appreciated and instructions on how things work.  A small learning curve but we want for nothing.  It is well-located.  

We passed a small market on the way to the apartment and went back to get some fresh bread, cheese and prosciutto and a bag of ice.  Most Airbnbs lack ice trays and ice and as a friend of ours used to say, "you guys use a lot of ice for everything".   We like ice.  

Not important to the show but I found it interesting, a centuries old bronze anchor used to hold the marble railings together. 

So well located in fact, that this morning we walked to the Vatican and were completely overwhelmed.  I knew the Vatican through pictures but to be there was unbelievable.  We arrived at 10 a.m. stopping along the way for a delicious salmon panini and a coffee.   Prices are very reasonable and we following the working crowd.  Breakfast was 6.50€.   The lines were not long as we go there around 10:30.   It began to rain and it rained the rest of the day.  We bought the tourist umbrella for 3 euros and it will serve us well if we need it this week.  There are so many pictures to post I will select just a few.  I was wondering if you place a price on the Vatican what it would be and it is said around 15 billion USD.  It must be much, much more.

Pope Gregory XIII, the namesake for the Gregorian Calendar. 

A list of all the popes in the church's history.  

I lost my religion many decades ago but the church has its following.  I can't knock it but I've seen the planet from a distance and it doesn't seem to mesh.  Just a personal opinion.

Now behind protected glass, Michael Angelo's Pieta.  No longer can pilgrims touch the statue.

We've planned a great pasta dinner at home with a cheap bottle of chianti.  I need some rest this evening.  A lot more to come as we will be in Italy until April 8th.  It feels very comfortable and the language doesn't doesn't seem to present a problem here.  Spanish is very similar and we need to change some vocabulary but all is well.  Mama Mia!  We'll be in Rome for four days before picking a car and heading north on a route not well-defined.