The rest of the trip: Not ideal

 The rest of our long-awaited Italy 2021 trip doesn't offer a lot to report.  Margaret was unwell, and we didn't do much beyond look at family history in the house.  We went out for two meals with long-time local friends, but didn't meet expat friends whom we'd long looked forward to meeting.  Our extra time finished up, and there are just our final two days in Rome and the return to report.

On the designated day, we took the rental car back to Orvieto by the correct route, still a bit slower than expected, but in time for the nice man there to get us to the train station.  We had a train ride to Roma Termini and with a cheating taxi driver that I'd rather not relive, to where we were staying, the B&B at Gonfalone 6.  Having a regular room, and with Margaret not being up to going out much, it felt more cramped than when we were at the apartment on their property two years prior, but it is still a nice location.  They told us that, like all other places, they were unable to serve breakfast.

The first thing we needed to do was get the COVID test required for returning to the U.S., which could be done at the pharmacy nearby on via dei Banchi Vecchi.  We and several others were accommodated as walk-ins, filling out a form, getting tested at a tent slightly down the street, and waiting for an email of the results document (finally all good for us).

Margaret stayed in the hotel room and I went to join, from our SlowTrav past, Shannon (her past helpful times including our time last year in Croatia), Brad, and Palma at the Albergo del Senato by the Pantheon, at their rooftop terrace.

That was done, and the next day, while staying in the room for a rainy morning, I checked in for the next day's flight, including using Delta's process to upload our test results, and the U.S. attestation form.  

In the afternoon, with Margaret still not up to going out, I went on a walk getting these pictures through Trastevere:

A translation not being accurate but working.  The main sight where I went indoors on this trip was the church of S. Maria in Trastevere, noting that the traditional pews had been replaced with distanced small chairs.

Then crossed the Isola Tiberina. 

Then wound up in the historic Jewish Ghetto, finding much more activity there than when I’d been there before. 

Checking in with Margaret and bringing her some food for sustenance, I had a final meal at E' Passata la Moretta, with Pasta alla Gricia and a Saltimbocca.

The next morning we got up before 6 to get the ride we booked with Rome Shuttle Limousine at 6.30.  We got to Rome Fiumicino Airport around 7, starting to get light on that overcast day.  We went to the area where U.S. carriers check in, one check that we were passengers and had our vaccination cards, but we missed that there was another desk where they reviewed our test results, and were sent back from the check-in counter.  We checked in, just beating the crowds, and had a long walk back to the left (from the perspective of the front of the terminal) to clear security, then right past the many shops to have exit passport control and the train to the satellite terminal with our gate.  There was a line to pick up coffee and munchies, and we weren't finished with them when it was time to board our 10 a.m. flight.  

It was nice to have a non-stop Rome-Boston flight.  There was normal service, but the diabetic version of pizza they served for the late snack wasn't edible.  There isn't much more to recall; we arrived and had the shuttle back to our area where our friend took us home.

We had waited for this trip for a long time, and it was disappointing that Margaret's health didn't allow us to do much.  It was interesting to think about the times that Italy had been shut down and now seeing the scene mostly back to normal, with masks being worn most of the time indoors and in crowded outdoor places, although often not properly.  We didn't do much restaurant dining and didn't much enforcement of the Green Pass rule; I saw it once when I was inside to carry out a pizza, just noting people being asked as they were being seated, with the actual check to be done later.  We will hope for a better future trip.

Getting settled in Umbertide: the market

  We’ve had a few days just staying in Umbertide.  We have the current reality of COVID rules, with masks required indoors (although we haven’t sat inside at a bar or restaurant and been asked to show green passes), and many people wearing masks outdoors, albeit as chin straps in some cases.  We’ve had our Wednesday market with fewer stands and some of them rearranged, including reoccupying the space under the Rocca where the market was when I first moved here 50 years ago.  Here are some pictures.

Trip to Italy starts, September 2021

My last post here was about the trip planned for spring 2020 to Italy and Croatia.  So much has happened since then: my father died in February 2020; we looked for this trip to be a healing time, then COVID hit the world and we needed to cancel the trip.  We made the trip to Croatia in August-September 2020, and I posted a trip report to Slow Europe, where I won the trip as a prize.

We were looking for the chance to return to Italy; when we got our vaccines we booked the trip on rewards before Italy announced reopening: we had Premium Economy (PE) on American Airlines when it was available at a good mileage price, and the same class for a return on Iberia.  We were looking at going by COVID-tested rules for the American flight.

In June, we got word that our flight via New York on Sept. 8 was no longer operating, and we were rebooked via Philadelphia on Sept. 9.  I found that it was the restart date of the PHL-Rome flight, postponed several times, and not listed as COVID-tested, meaning we would need to quarantine on arrival even if vaccinated.  We were confident that those rules would not stay.  The one option to keep the trip on the 8th on American (and not connecting through another country, which could have more rules complications) from Boston would be via Dallas, which would be an unappealing routing and there were no PE seats.  We kept the PHL connection; at first the PE seats we were assigned were in the middle, which Margaret could not take, but pretty quickly seats on the side opened up.

Having our arrival delayed by a day also made us note that the trip was on the short side, and Margaret prevailed in our looking for a different return date.  With Iberia, it’s a major pain to get through on the phone, and when we did, there were no dates close to what we wanted in PE, and if we wanted to change classes, a phone agent couldn’t do it: we would need to cancel, get our points back, and start over with a new booking.

Knowing it could be a major wait to get the points back, the solution I came up with was to book a round trip out of Rome on the Delta non-stop to Boston.  The return for spring 2022 is on a placeholder date that we may well change.  Before too long, I was able to get the Iberia points back, and hope to use them for the next return when we can be sure the dates will stick.

As time approached, we found the testing requirement removed, then reinstated shortly before the trip, and we were able to schedule a rapid test at CVS at a place convenient to where we would be.  

We took our area bus to Boston the previous night, and got to the airport at 9 a.m. for our 12.50 flight.  I planned to get there so early because it takes time for agents to get all the required entry information in, but this agent got it done quickly and were at the departure gate way early, seeing two flights board before ours.  We had a flight to PHL in the front row of the Main Cabin, with extra legroom, but no cabin service because of expected turbulence.

We had a long way to go between gates at PHL. The gate posted was walled off; we waited at the gate across from it to see if it would open, and then one of the apps where I’d sent the flight info alerted me of a gate change, so we went to the new gate.  As more people showed up and boarding time got closer, they announced that passengers who didn’t have an orange sticker (basically everyone who didn’t originate at PHL) would need to go to the counter to get their vaccine cards, test results, and the Passenger Locator Form we’d needed to complete, verified—it wasn’t enough that our boarding passes already said “Docs OK.” The time required for this meant that we boarded after our turn.

We found nice seats, though; Premium Economy has been described as what Economy seats should be or used to be, but these were almost comparable to domestic First Class.  This was my first flight on a 787, and the air was more breathable than is typical.  When the restart of this route was delayed until after Labor Day, some said it was an indication that it wouldn’t operate at all, but in fact I gather it was because of a delay in delivering new 787s.  We were given true headphones and seatback entertainment, although that’s mostly been removed from American’s domestic flights.  We’d pre-ordered diabetic meals, although we aren’t both diabetic, and these meals were really nice, with both steak and chicken.  

I got a few hours sleep even with a facemask on, and we got a nice breakfast featuring a tortilla omelet.  We had a nice arrival in Rome a little early; we didn’t use the e-gates and the passport control agent asked to see our CDC cards (I’d heard that usually the check at departure check-in is enough).  The wait at baggage claim was on the long side, but we made it to the train that I considered the best-case scenario (in fact we got the one 15 minutes before), to get to Roma Tiburtina station.  I needed to find my way around the renovated station to get the train we needed to Orvieto. These trains were Regionali, so they didn't have the Green Pass check that the reservable trains have.

I’d put in the SIM card from the Italian provider TIM, but I continued to have trouble using it or seeing what credit I had.  Margaret had her phone on the AT&T Day Pass, and with it we were able to use WhatsApp to update the Orvieto garage that Cheryl had recommended on our arrival to pick up our rental car.

We arrived at Orvieto and one of the owners of the garage was there to meet us and get our rental, a good deal, started.  I followed the signs to Todi and, before long, realized that this was not the route I was familiar with.  If you can follow this, we were supposed to take SS448, the yellow road south of the lake, but wound up taking the back roads above the Parco Fluviale, through Colonnetta, Prodo, and Doglio.

Here we took the route that wasn’t the most pleasant to drive after an overnight flight, and we got to Umbertide and our house, finding that our helper had prepared it well.  The Wi-Fi wasn’t working after a few years of not being billed for it.  For my own connection in a jet-lagged state, I went to the electronics store and got my phone re-established with a TIM data plan working as a hotspot for other devices, but we still wanted something more like Wi-Fi for the house, and would need to consider options. 

Some people say that it's adequate to have data on a phone with a hotspot, but we saw problems with that: starting with power draining on the phone, and that we'd want to be in contact when we're in different places.  Renewing our home Wi-Fi would have problems of paying for time when we're mostly not here, and waiting for a service call to get started.  I looked into getting Wi-Fi from the phone company TIM, which would have the same problems at a higher price.  Maybe there's more to look into, but I remembered the service we used once, Expresso Wi-Fi.  A search indicated it was replaced by OneMyFi.  I put in an order on Saturday, slightly worried that the live chat was down but attributed it to the weekend, hoping all would be well.  On Monday there was still no confirmation, I searched more, and found that OneMyFi is no longer in business, but they still take PayPal payments.  I am working to resolve this money taken from me; in a hurry I looked at other options, and there may be better ones, and wound up with HipPocketWifi.  It got shipped from France in two days and there were problems getting it started, but with support I have it going.  It also has a data allowance that might be a challenge, but we'll see how it goes.

So far we haven't done much: I'll start with this picture: Rocca di Umbertide.