I had a good if long flight back to the UK, the first leg to Singapore was fine as it was only 5hrs I then had a 2hr stop over. This went really quickly as Singapore Airport is lovely and comfy with lots to do and see. My final leg was OK, I sat next to a lovely couple who were traveling from Bangladesh to London, the husband was going to be working at Queens Hospital in London training to be a Heart Surgeon, he was very sweet and asked me lots of questions about London and the uk, he also spent ages asking me questions about me and my life, my travels. He was a love.y man, who I have no doubt will make an excellent surgeon. 13 1/2 hrs is such a long time, I managed to get a few hours sleep, but I arrived in Heathrow at feeling a little tired and grumpy!
I have to say that having traveled through lots of airports, Heathrow really isn’t great! I disembarked from my plane, at terminal 2 and had to get to my hotel which was in Terminal 5. This involved walking about 20 miles, collecting your luggage from the barge hall, which smelt like a sewer, the bags from our flight where all over the floor in piles, and also going round on the belt, which you could barely get to due to all the bags on the floor, it was then another 20 mile trek to find the free train terminal transfer, up and down in totally overcrowded lifts, the signage, directions and information are practically non existent. I eventually arrived at my hotel 2hrs after landing!!! Crazy!!
My hotel was lovely, as I said it’s located in Terminal 5 to make my life easier the following morning, which it did. I managed to get some sleep, then was up early 5am! with a million things running through my head, none of which we particularly interesting or urgent!
I got myself sorted, booked a few galleries, Museums etc on line for Italy then it was time to go.
The experience on Heathrow Terminal 5 was much better than yesterday’s! Easy bag drop, easy security, a nice simple process, the plane was on time and it was a simple 2hr flight to Rome, just enough time to have Sneaky JD and coke then we were landing in Rome!! 😍
I was off the plane and through security in no time and there was Alison (Al) waiting for me! So so lovely to see her. We jumped into a taxi and off we went straight to the centre of Gorgeous Rome! Our Airbnb is right next to Campo Di Fiori and is absolutely fabulous, with a wonderful outside terrace overlooking the rooftops. We dumped our bags, checked into the WiFi, had a wee and off we went. We had an Aperol Spritz and some free tapas on Campo Di Fiori, Yum! Then we did a bit of food shopping before having a walk around the Jewish Quarter and Trastevere, there seems to be lots going on, live music, beat boxing, people out and about enjoying their Friday night. We wandered back to the apartment and sat out in the terrace having a catch up then as we were both knackered we went off to bed.
I am so happy to be back in Rome, one of my absolute favourite places.
Today, Saturday, we were up and out by 9am. I think early morning is the best time to see the city, as it starts to wake up and before it gets crazy busy! Al and I have walked our socks off! We have seen so much already, it fantastic. We’ve seen the Pantheon, (my favourite)the Trevi Fountain (also my Favourite!) the Spanish Steps, from the top of which has a stunning view. We then walked up and through the beautiful and peaceful Borghese Gardens which seems to be a particularly popular place for families and their dogs. It is one of the largest open spaces in Rome covering 200 acres. It was wonderful just ambling through listening to some acoustic guitar, people watching and enjoying the sunshine. We walked back down into Piazza Del Popolo and just as we found somewhere to sit and have a drink it started to rain, luckily it didn’t last long and we continued on our way.
We stopped to have some lunch, got slightly done on the cost of a plate of vegetables and the water, I asked for Tap water, we got a bottle of water (which I’m pretty sure came out of the tap) and were charged 4 euros! Hey ho, you live and learn.
We did pop into a lovely little shop that was offering free tastings of Limoncello!! Another favourite😍
A fabulous start to this part of the adventure!
Ciao Xxx
Hereandthereclaire.com 
Love the pictures. X
LikeLiked by 1 person