We have arrived in Rome!!

By Maree 

Cath and I are now finally in Rome after around 35 hours of flying and sitting in airports.  We are certainly pleased to be on firm ground.

Sue took us to the airport in Brisbane and we met Lynn there as well. At the airport Lynn saw an old friend who worked at the airport so he kindly took us through as priority clients and gave us express passes for customs once we arrived in Sydney.   It is lucky we did go earlier and met up with Lynn - she is very useful to know!!!!!!!!

The plane for most the journey was on the A380 Airbus - huge to say the least.  The seats in Premium Economy were fantastic and the food and drink delicious.  We were up on the upper level so it was very quiet.  I was like a kid at Christmas.  We think we have put on a few kilos already.  The entertainment too was the best.  We would say that the Australian staff from Sydney to Dubai were the best crew - very respectful and could not do enough for you. From Dubai on the crew was mainly British - not very friendly and did not bother to check things.

We have to say that we  were pleased to leave Dubai airport - not a place we will visit again,  Heathrow Airport is huge and we had around 6 hours wait before heading to Rome.  We only had minor issues going through customs and most of the time it was Cath they pulled aside - criminal aspirations I think!!!!!!  The security from London to Rome was terrible and both Cath and I had to wait for around one hour while they scanned our knapsacks and handbags - maybe again it was the company Maree was keeping.

What an adventure Rome airport is - straight through customs - not a lot of help from the locals given for questions.  Took the Leonardo Express train in to Rome from the airport. The Hotel Columbia is great and the manager is very lovely.  So tired last night that we got pizza and sat in our room in our PJ's to eat. Managed a few hours sleep which was enough to reinvigorate us.