Saturday, July 4, 2009

I hate overnight flights!

Once we finished packing last night (night before last - strange), we did our usual wait - and remember things we needed. Our pickup was noon - we wanted to be sure we had enough time for security with my oxygen equipment. It actually went pretty quickly.

Connection in Detroit was uneventful. We were able to use my Delta Club membership so we could be a little more comfortable.

I won't spend a lot of time re the overnight flight - I hate overnight flights. We arrived in Rome a little early. Luckily, we had arranged a wheelchair for me. It would have been very rough without it. Obviously, he knew where he was going and could get us through the passport checkpoint and customs quickly.

Once we got to baggage claim, our bags came quickly and together. Mom and Brett & Arielle were not as lucky. Their bags arrived - just a little bit of a wait. Once again, the wheelchair porter was a big help. He got a couple carts for the luggage and stayed with us the entire time while we found our driver and he took us to the minivan.

We checked into the Marcella Royal Hotel about noon. I am just a little disappointed in the rooms - but everyone else seems to think they are nice. In any case, we all hit the mattresses and went to sleep. I didn't keep track - but I think was probably slept around three hours.

Once we woke up, I worked on hooking up my oxygen to recharge the batteries. I had just enough battery power to make the entire trip. I plugged in the DC cord before we slept since I had just one electric plug adapter. Later, I was able to get another adapter from the hotel so that I can use the AC recharger and the DC adapter at the same time.

About 5:30, we went to the rooftop garden cafe for food. Every night they serve a light dinner - salads, pasta, antipasta platters. The cafe view was gorgeous and was filled with potted plants and flowers. We can see St Peters Cathedral from the cafe. Our waiter told us that it is even nicer after dark.

We have a 9:30 pickup tomorrow. We hope to go to mass and we have a driver/guide to take us to see the sights of ancient Rome.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

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