Full day to start in Rome

A busy day; I'll try to be brief. Thursday, our first interest of the day was to get to the Centro Storico. At Piazza di Porta Maggiore, at a tabaccaio we got transit passes for the day for €4 each. Rather than the bus, we took the Roma-Giardinetti train, which is really a tram, in this section operating on the street (via Giolitti) but ending at the Ferrovie Laziali section of Termini station. We split a panino in the station bar rather than planning a full lunch, and boarded express bus 40, to Largo Argentina. We cheated a little more on a rich calzone at Il Delfino.

Great memories for Margaret to see Piazza Navona. People were gathered an apparent fashion model on a shoot.

We went through more familiar streets to Campo de' Fiori.

Sat down at a café on Piazza Farnese, and walked down via Monserrato, seeing our old school building: it has changed.

We turned around and went to the Campidoglio museum for the Lux in Arcana show, the Vatican's secret archives. We got tickets and had a bathroom need. Being directed to that, we followed signs upstairs to the show. It was a small show on preservation matters, such as dealing with document deterioration. This was what the whole widely promoted show was? I thought we had some time to visit the main museums. Then I saw that the main show was near the entrance; we'd just seen a final technical section. The main show had important documents like Galileo's recantation and on matters with the end of the Papal States.

At the Campidoglio:

We had our booked tour of Palazzo Valentini, where there are recent excavations of an ancient Roman house. There was confusion as we walked down glass steps on top of historic steps. Fascinating, although the TripAdvisor rating of it as the number 1 sight in Rome may reflect more ratings because it's new rather than objective fact. Margaret was feeling her old ankle injury flaring up.

The full day ended with a get-together at Piperno with Slow Travelers Sandra and Heidi. I'd known of Piperno as a well-regarded restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto; it was nice to have their specialties including carciofi alla giudia and gnocchi, as well as meeting with nice people.

We went to Largo Argentina to catch the two buses that we planned, but Margaret said to go ahead and get a taxi, so the transit pass was not put to good use. Still, it was nice to get promptly to our apartment at the end of this full day.

Flights and surprise on arrival in Rome

Noting while I'm offline: The flight to Chicago was on a United CRJ-200, a cramped regional jet, but it was short enough not to be too painful, and it was on time. Unlike most of their RJ flights, it arrived at the main Terminal 1, concourse C, with the design evoking grand old train stations. I have three hours to wait for Margaret's arrival, and don't know much about that flight's status; for now I'll just count on everything working right.

The flight, scheduled for 7.30, arrived at 7.50. I was getting worried about getting to our departure gate in time for the international cutoff for the 8.50 departure. We took the underpass between concourses C and B and went to the Lufthansa boarding gate at the far end of B. An agent said Margaret's carry-on had to be checked, and he let us sit in a special sitting area for preboards. We got to preboard, and when boarding was complete there was a couple behind us whom Margaret met on the flight from Sacramento; they were also going to Rome. It was nice to meet them.

The aircraft, an A340, was reasonably comfortable in Economy. The lavatories were on a lower level, nice that waiting passengers weren't in regular aisles. I took the dinner choice of curried chicken. It's different than usual having Margaret with me, but I got a fair amount of sleep.

The arrival in Munich was scheduled for 12.50; we were early, landing at 12.15, and getting to the gate at 12.30. The arrangement was simlar to Frankfurt; we disembarked on the upper non-Schengen level and walked the length of it, clearing passport control, then went downstairs to the Schengen level. We went through an area of several shops and an airy gate area. I was surprised that there was no security check; they relied on our TSA clearance in the U.S.

Margaret got an iPhone plan that seemed to be a good deal, although I'm skeptical. We got euros at the ATM. We asked to get seats together and for Margaret to preboard. That boarding gate had stairs down to the tarmac where we were the first to board the bus. Our preboard status wasn't much help in getting off the bus and taking stairs to board the plane; our new seats were in row 7, towards the front. We were served cake. I'm writing this onboard as we're on target for an on-time arrival at 4.30 p.m.

We arrived. and baggage claim at Fiumicino airport was surprisingly fast. We had reserved a car and driver with Rome Shuttle Limousine; the driver was there and took us to the Mercedes. We were reserved at the Baci da Roma B&B www.bacidaroma.it ; even though the area south of Termini isn't a favorite of mine, I was intrigued by the rooms evoking fashion and pop culture icons. Just to be extra sure, I called the owner while we were on the way; she said there was a complication with the room and asked me to give the phone to the driver. She asked him to take us to an alternate nearby location. We got there and the owner said the previoius guest had left with the key; even though they had other keys, she couldn't guarantee the safety of the place, especially if the guest had lost the key. So we were booked in a 2-bedroom apartment with kitchen, a more complete space, in the same general area but beyond Porta Maggiore, and so outside the Aurelian Walls. We'll see how it goes; we had our first meal in Italy in a restaurant downstairs from the apartment.

Taking off to Rome

Margaret and I are at our respective airports, ready to join on the trip to Rome. So far we're showing our flights on schedule to Chicago, where we connect to Munich and Rome. There's the confusing matter of when we get the boarding passes for Lufthansa after the first United segment. United could check us in online but not print boarding passes unless our passports were scanned in their system. Then when I got to Kansas City airport, the check-in counter just gave me the United pass; for LH they gave cards saying "This is not a boarding pass." They said the gate counter might help. I asked there and they gave me the LH passes.

Meanwhile, Margaret got all her passes; we compared notes and, in spite of my having asked LH to link our reservations, our seats were separate for the Munich-Rome flight, where seat assignments open only when check-in opens. So we'll wait and see if we can get that sorted with Lufthansa somewhere. That's it, I don't think I'll be posting until Rome.

Italy trip approaches, I think

So much of my blogging is about planning; things have happened and I haven't posted much. I'm not sure how I'll be about posting during the trip.

What can I remember about the planning that's gone on? United sent me a schedule change giving me a connection in Chicago that's legal, but much shorter than I'm comfortable with, especially wanting to meet Margaret on her arrival. This was because my original Kansas City-Chicago flight was taken off the schedule. I was able to change to the earlier time, giving me a lot of time at O'Hare. Once United and Continental were fully merged, there were new confirmation codes, and there have been minor schedule changes. Margaret's connecting time is pretty short, and we've talked about contingencies if something goes wrong there. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of how her inbound flight has done, and it's usually gone well.

Basics of planning: a B&B in Rome on arrival, car rental through Auto Europe to go to Umbria for two weeks in my Umbertide house, return car, train to Naples for time booked on Capri, return to Rome, return to U.S. On the reservable trains Rome-Naples and back, I got a €9 Mini fare.

Worrying me: Margaret had a badly sprained ankle, and more health problems, having me worried about her, but so far things look good for the trip. So I'm looking forward to a trip unlike any other for me, in terms of the type of companionship I'll have. This update on the planning has been brief, and I hope to do some blogging during the trip, with less detail than I've done before.

Air booking to Italy

Once I had Margaret booked to Italy on my award, I was going to make every effort to book myself on the same flights. Fares were higher than I was hoping for May; I was set up with Yapta to check for any notable decrease, but I was ready to book whatever there was on Jan. 13 when a new credit card cycle opened. In the time I was tracking the fare, it reached a maximum near $1300, but mostly hovered around $1150; usually the difference over the lowest fares for any flights on those dates, also on United, could be explained by the extra taxes for connecting in Germany.

Would that Friday the 13th be my lucky day? When I got home from work, the fare for those flights was in the $1060s (before any Yapta alert showed), lower than they had been in the time I'd been checking. Even though connections on US Airways were in the $880s, I was determined to be on Margaret's flights and started to book. Kayak directed me to the United site, which asked me to log in. Once I did that, I got a message that the fare was gone and was now near $1200. When things like that happen, I stop and hope things will settle down later. I was leaving for Arizona the next day, and packed my netbook computer, which I wasn't sure I would take, so I could check fares during the trip.

I did another check at 11 p.m. The fare had gone down to $947.70, and I was ready to book. There was another hiccup in going from Kayak to United, but the fare was still showing. I started the booking process, including selecting my seats. I opened the United site in a second window to see what Margaret's seat assignments were, so I could select seats next to her (and it would include going to the Lufthansa site to make a selection for their Chicago-Munich flight). When I finished selecting my seats in my window on the United site, the final booking page showed Margaret's itinerary, not mine! I was able to start over with the fare still there, and get it booked.

So I'll be worried about the Chicago connections to the flight to Frankfurt, with myself taking a 5 p.m. flight on a regional jet, when aircraft can accumulate delays during the day, and Margaret having 1 hr. 20 to connect; I get agitated when time at airports gets short. For now, I'm glad to have the flights booked; my mother may join us in Italy for some of the time, and I'll be looking at what "on the ground" plans need to be made for Italy.

Arizona visit with Haydee and Margaret

After Margaret couldn't join me at my parents' in Vermont over the year-end holidays, it worked out that we could both go to Arizona mid-January, meeting my first cousin once removed Haydee in Phoenix, and going on to Sedona. It was a wonderful time: Haydee is the granddaughter of my mother's Mexican half-brother Enrique, who had a big family. We had dinner out with a group including her father, my first cousin Enrique Jr.

Margaret became instant friends with Haydee, and invited her to join us in Sedona. We stayed at the Sedona Real The first part of the stay was overcast, but then the sun came out and we got these great looks at the red rocks, and got to understand the magic of the place. Here are the pictures:

Sedona, Arizona Jan. 2012

Time passing, new Italy trip

Since I last posted here, Margaret has visited me twice, the second time to see an opera at the new Performing Arts Center in Kansas City, and we arranged to go to Los Angeles together to join a SlowTrav get-together. Things are well affirmed between us.

I went to my parents' for Thanksgiving when they essentially ordered me to go. Booking relatively late around peak dates, I did a non-Southwest trip on regional jets, on Continental to Manchester via Newark, returning on Frontier from Boston via Milwaukee, opting out of Boston's body scanner, and gate-checking a bag on a full flight.

I generally reactivate the blog when planning for an international trip is under way. When I was with my parents, I established that the house in Italy was available for most of next year. I've been wanting to have Margaret join me in Italy, using my United miles. We've been looking to plan it around a reunion of the school in Rome that we attended, but enough time has passed with no announcement that I was ready to make a booking without regard to a reunion.

Margaret was willing, and I asked the SlowTrav board a planning question based on my general thought that the trip should include Capri, and for a trip in May, which was showing decent award availability. For most United awards, there's better availability if you go through Germany on Lufthansa. I was looking at having Capri at one end of the trip, and so using Naples airport. With Margaret going from Sacramento, many options had flights from the West Coast to Germany, but I was looking for places were I could more easily join her for the transatlantic flight, Chicago in particular. If we had Capri at the start of the trip, I was looking at a flight arriving in Naples at 4.15 p.m. Then I got to think that getting to the port and ferry to Capri after that long overnight series of flights could just strain us too much. It could be better to have Capri as the culmination of the trip, but a 6 a.m. flight out of Naples would mean staying on the mainland.

For my first choice of return date, flying out of either Naples or Rome would mean going through Germany. Some people on the boards were urging me to try for a transatlantic flight out of Rome. The United site wasn't allowing open-jaw booking if partner airlines were involved; I could pay to go through a phone agent or, as the merger gets closer, transfer the needed miles to Continental, which allows this open-jaw online booking.

Before I did this, I tried a round trip to Rome on the United site. By changing the return by a day, I was able to book Margaret on the Rome-Newark flight. That calls for a long Newark layover and a connection through Houston; these are all current Continental routes; I don't know if, once the airlines are fully merged, she could make a more logical connection through the United hubs of Chicago or Denver. I'm guessing the Houston-Sacramento flight has award availability because it isn't so much in demand.

Margaret certainly shows excitement at this trip; I'm hoping I can wait a bit to book my paid trip on the same transatlantic flights. Wanting specific flights might limit my search for the best fare, but I've signed up with Yapta to monitor the fare. My mother may also go, so there's much to work out about details of the trip once everyone's booked.